THE
SERMONS OF JOHN BRINE
The
True Sense of Atonement for Sin, By Christ’s
Death,
Stated and Defended; In Answer to a
Pamphlet
intitled 'The Scripture Doctrine of
Atonement
Examined' by Mr.
Taylor of Norwich
by John Brine
(London: John Ward,
1752)
SERMON
17
THE TRUE
SENSE OF ATONEMENT FOR SIN, BY
CHRIST’S
DEATH,
STATED AND DEFENDED; IN
ANSWER TO A PAMPHLET,
INTITLED, 'THE
SCRIPTURE DOCTRINE OF ATONEMENT
EXAMINED' BY MR. TAYLOR, OF NORWICH
WITH
An APPENDIX, CONTAINING
An ANSWER to
the OBJECTIONS of an anonymous Author to the
Doctrine of SATISFACTION,
in a Pamphlet, intitled,
Second
Thoughts concerning the Sufferings and Death of CHRIST, etc.
Printed by DAN. NOTTAGE,
for JOHN WARD, at the King’s Arms, in
Cornhill, against the Royal-Exchange: And Sold by GEORGE
KEITH, at Mercers’
Chapel, Cheapside; and by JOHN EYNON, at a
Print-Shop, on the North
Side of the Royal-Exchange. London
1752
THE
PREFACE
As some Remarks on Mr.
Taylor’s Piece have been published very lately, the Reader may reasonably
expect an Account from me why I now appear, wherein I am willing to gratify
him. The Author of those Remarks, is not
fond of the Use of the Word Imputation, on the Subject of Christ’s Obedience
and Sufferings; though he thinks it may be safely applied to both, as Dr. Doddridge
hath explained it, i.e. explained it away. f1 He
consents to the Truth of false Representation of our Opinion by Mr. Taylor, viz. that we think the Death of Christ
made God merciful; and wishes, that what he has said, to correct that Mistake,
may not be without Effect. f2
I am not sensible, that any Person ever
imagined this. Mr. Hampton grants,
that the Sufferings of Christ were not penal, and that there is not a
natural Connection between his Death and Remission of Sin; but that his Death is
a Ground of our Redemption from Death, through the Will and Appointment of God;
f3 as any insignificant Action might have been. This is plainly giving up the Doctrine of proper
Satisfaction for sin, or of real Atonement for it. I have some other Reasons
for my Dissatisfaction, with Mr. Hampton’s Remarks; but I shall
not trouble the Reader with them. I suppose, enough is mentioned to
convince, that, if our Opinion on this important Point is to be defended, no
Occasion was administered by these Remarks, to stifle what I had prepared in
answer, to Mr. Taylor. I chearfully refer my Thoughts on this glorious
Subject to the Approbation, or Censure of such Persons as have a proper Conviction
of the evil Nature and just Demerit of Sin, a true Sense of the Holiness
of God, and his righteous Displeasure with moral Evil; who are willing
to be determined by the Holy Scriptures, without wresting them, in their
Sentiments concerning this Doctrine, of which we can know, nothing at all, but
by Revelation.
CHAPTER
1 ¾
SOME THINGS
PREMISED,
I FREELY grant, that the
Doctrine of Atonement, or Satisfaction for Sin, by the Death of Christ, is not
to be explained, by any Judicial Procedures among Men. If it might be
illustrated and confirmed by Rules, which do, or can lawfully obtain in human
Conduct, towards the Innocent in a Way of Penalty, and towards the Innocent in
Consequence thereof: That Doctrine could not reasonably be represented, as a
Mystery, which it is by the Sacred Writers. It is called the Wisdom of God
in a Mystery, the hidden Wisdom: And the deep Things of God. I will
allow, that human Governments have no Power, or Right, to charge
an innocent Person with the Crimes of any Offender, and inflict Punishment on
him in his Stead. And that no Man hath Power over himself, either in his
Members or his
Life, lawfully to consent to suffer Mutilation, or Death,
or any kind of corporal Punishment, in the Room of a guilty Person. The
Reason of both is very clear to me; Rulers as well as Subjects are under a Law,
which is superior to any they have Power to enact, and by which their
Constitutions ought, in all Instances, to be directed; viz. natural Justice,
according to which, Innocency ever is to be protected, and Guilt alone punished.
And, as a Power to punish results from Guilt only, the infliction of Penalty
is, in Equity, limited to its own proper Subject, and never ought to be
extended farther, it is as just to punish without the Being of Guilt at
all, as it is to punish, in any Degree, a Person wholly clear of that Guilt,
for which the Law directs unto the Infliction of Penalty. Nor is Guilt
transferable from one Man to another, as pecuniary Debts are. This is not
pretended.
II. As various of the Terms, which are sometimes used on the
Subject of the Atonement of Christ, are borrowed from the Civil Law; it
may not be improper to enquire into the Sense of them.
1. Novation: That designs taking away a former Obligation, by a
new Stipulation or Agreement, wherein the Consent of the Creditor is required
and given. This hath Place in the Affair of Christ’s Death. For, according to
the Law, we, the Transgressors, were bound over to Punishment for our Crimes;
but God, of his infinite Mercy, freed us from that Obligation, by admitting
Christ to be our Surety: Or, in virtue of his Stipulation, we are let free, and
he became responsible unto God for us. This was an Act of Sovereignty in
God.
2. Satisfaction: This is a Term, that is also borrowed from the Civil Law,
and it intends a Creditor’s accepting what is offered and paid to him, by, or
in Behalf of a Debtor, though it is not what he might, according to the
Obligation, have demanded. Satisfaction, therefore, does not necessarily
imply a full Payment, for that may be, where the latter is not. When we
use the Word on this Subject, we mean, that no Demand will, or can be made upon
us, because God agreed to accept of the Payment of our Debt by Jesus Christ,
and he hath discharged it, or made good his Engagement in our Behalf. The
Death of Christ is to be considered, as the procatarctic Cause; and Satisfaction,
as the Effect.
3. Acceptilation: That imports a Creditor’s agreeing to accept another Thing,
or less than what is in the Obligation, whereby the Debtor is no less
freed from the Obligation he was under, than if the Idem, or same, was
paid, that the Obligation expresses. This is, indeed, understood of Obligation
by Words among Civilians, and is not properly applicable to this
Affair. But some do at least allude unto it: Yet they allow not that Force unto
Acceptilation in this Matter, which, according to the Opinion of Civilians,
it contains in it, viz. The Removal of the Obligation. If it should
not so do, in this Business, Christ would be injured; for it is not just to
require an innocent Person to die in the Room of the Guilty, and suffer
the Obligation to remain on him.
4. Solution: This is the Payment of what is in the Obligation,
from whence Satisfaction, by Right, follows. Satisfaction, as has
been observed, may be, where Solution is not, because the Creditor may
be content with receiving less than he had a Right to require: But Satisfaction
must needs be, where there is Solution, because, in Right, the
Creditor can make no farther Demand. And this is the Case, in this Affair. For
Christ paid the Idem, or the same that was in our Obligation. We stood
obliged to suffer the Curse of the Law, and that includes the whole Penalty our
Sins demerit; no farther Punishment is due to Sin, than what is contained in
the Law’s Curse: And, therefore, the Death of Christ was a proper and full
Payment of our Debt; consequently, it must be satisfactory to God,
our righteous Judge. God might have insisted upon Payment from us, and not have
accepted of the Engagement of another for us; but since, by Novation, he dissolved our Obligation, or admitted of a Surety, his
Payment of what was required in the Obligation upon the Ground of Justice,
gives us a Right to Impunity. And, therefore, when it is said that the Satisfaction
of Christ was refusable, we must be careful, that we understand it
in a right Sense.
(1.) If by it is meant, that God was at Liberty to admit, or not
admit of his Sponsion, or Engagement for us, it is true. For he
might justly have retained us under the Obligation, and not have allowed of
the Payment of our Debt by a Surety. The Acceptation of his Undertaking
for us was an Act of sovereign Favour, and, therefore, it is, that we are said
to be freely forgiven, although our Surety discharged our whole Debt.
But,
(2.) If by it is intended, that what Christ suffered for us was refusable,
or might not have been accepted, or allowed to be the Solution of
our Debt, it is most false; because he suffered that Curse which the Law threatened,
and he was, in his Person, such as gave that Worth unto his Death, which the
Justice of God required, unto Sufferings satisfactory for Guilt. The
Appointment of Christ to suffer, in our Stead, was an amazing Act of sovereign
Mercy, Kindness, and Grace; but the Acceptation of his Sufferings, for our
Discharge, was an Act of Justice, because they were, both in Kind and
Value, what that required, in Case of a Violation of the Law.
And, therefore, it is a Mistake
to think, that, God having required his Son to die for us, he may, that
notwithstanding, only grant unto us Terms, or Conditions of Pardon, and, for
Want of our Performance of those Conditions, impute our Guilt to us, and
inflict upon us the Penalty our Sins deserve. It is Matter of Favour to be
content with the Payment of less than is due; but of Right to be
satisfied with the Payment of the Whole, which can in Justice be
demanded, whether it be by the Principal or Surety. The Agreement
between God and Christ, as our Surety, did not render his Sufferings available
to procure the Pardon of Sin; if so, then, their Value is not intrinsic;
but is extrinsical only, or it is of arbitrary Appointment. His
Death was the Result of the sovereign Decree of God, and of his own free and
voluntary Engagement to submit to the sovereign Pleasure of the Father. But the
Merit, Virtue, and Efficacy of his Sacrifice to take away Sin, or
attone for our Guilt, spring not from any Agreement between God, our righteous
Judge, and Christ, our Surety. The Merit of it arises wholly from the Nature of
his Sufferings, as they were properly penal, and the infinite Dignity
of his Person. As the infinite Demerit of Sin is not the Effect of
the Divine Will, but results from the infinite Greatness of God, against
whom it is committed: So the Value of Christ’s Sufferings is not of Divine
Constitution and Appointment; but it is the proper and necessary Result of the infinite
Dignity of the Person of the Sufferer. Hence it follows, that the Compact
between God and Christ did not give Merit to his Death and Sacrifice, nor
constitute how far, and unto what Ends, it should be accepted, on our Account:
But merely his Act of offering himself a Sacrifice for our Sins.
Sovereign Love to our Persons determined upon his becoming a Sacrifice for us,
and Justice grants those Effects, which that Sacrifice, because of its intrinsic
Worth without an arbitrary Appointment, merits at the Hand of God,
our Lawgiver and Judge.
III. It is a Consideration of great Importance, that God acted
in this Business, merely in a sovereign Manner, both towards us, and
towards our Saviour.
1. Towards us. His Resolution to pardon and save us was an Act of his
Goodness; but it was his Goodness acting in an arbitrary Way: For it is
not Goodness merely that ordains the Salvation of a criminal Creature;
if it was, it would be contrary to Divine Goodness to inflict Punishment on
Sinners, which certainly it is not, and, therefore, this was a free Act of
God’s Will: Or a Purpose of Grace, which is wholly to be attributed to his absolute
Pleasure. It was not a natural Act of his Goodness, as his rewarding
Innocence is; but a free and sovereign Act of Clemency and Favour.
2. Towards Christ. The Divine Decree to punish Sin was an Act of Justice; but
the Decree of punishing it in him was an Act of Sovereignty. The Justice of
this Decree is apparent, in that Respect was had unto Sin, as the meritorious
Cause of Penalty: And the Sovereignty of that Divine Purpose clearly shines, in
fixing upon Christ to be the Subject of the Punishment Sin demerits. It was not
a free Act of the Divine Will to decree to punish Sin; if it was, God might
have decreed to permit the Creature eternally to sin against him, without
suffering any Punishment for his Rebellion. But it was a free and sovereign
Act of his Will to decree, that Christ should bear Sin, and suffer the
Penalty due unto it. Justice directs to the Punishment of Sin, as what is fit
and proper. Sovereignty appointed and provided the innocent
subject, on whom Penalty was inflicted, in order to our Pardon and Impunity. So
that Sovereignty is that, from which our Salvation originally springs,
into which it must be entirely resolved, and whereupon it absolutely rests.
And, if we deprive God of his Sovereignty, we must inevitably damn
ourselves. For that alone could provide for our Recovery and Salvation. Hence,
(1.) We see the Reason why no finite Mind could ever have
thought of this Method of saving Sinners. All Acts of Goodness and Justice
which proceed not naturally from those Attributes in God, but are free
and sovereign Acts of his Will, must be undiscoverable by Reason;
because it hath no Rule to guide it into the Knowledge of such Acts as spring
from Sovereignty alone. And, therefore, it is proper to infinite Wisdom
to contrive the Way of our Salvation. And such a Mystery this is, as
will eternally fill the Minds of Angels and Saints, with holy Adoration.
(2.) This will enable us to discern, why our Lord put his
Sufferings wholly upon the Will of God, and why his Sacrifice was so pleasing
unto him. He put his Sufferings wholly upon the Will of God; because, tho’ it
was natural to God to will to punish Sin, it was a free Act of his Will
to impute Sin to him, and punish him for it. The Sacrifice of Christ was
infinitely pleasing unto God; because his Will was therein subjected to the
Will of God, in such Sort, as the Will of no Angel or Saint is, or ever will
be. This was such an Act of Obedience, as never was, nor ever will be required
of any Creature. And herein God was more honoured by our blessed Lord, in all
his glorious Perfections, than he will be, by the Sufferings of the Damned, or
the Obedience of Angels and Saints unto Eternity. This, among other
Considerations, is the Reason why the Sacrifice Christ offered, was of a
sweet-smelling Savour unto God; not merely as Sufferings, but as
submitted unto, with his whole Soul, out of a Regard unto his Glory, as a gracious,
holy, and just God.
(3.) Hence we also discern, that there was an intrinsic Worth
and Efficacy in the Sacrifice of Christ. According to Mr. Taylor, what
Virtue it had, or which he is pleased to allow unto it, (that I intend to
consider, with the Assistance of the Grace of him, whose this Sacrifice is)
arose from the Will and Appointment of God. If so, then there was no intrinsic
Virtue in it to answer any important End, either respecting God, to whom it
was offered, or Men for whom it was offered. And, consequently, God is no more
honoured in any of his Attributes, in the Salvation of Men, than if he had
saved them, without requiring this Sacrifice; nor do any Advantages accrue to
Men from it, that they might not as well have enjoyed without it. Which
Supposition is such a Reflection on the Wisdom of God, who appointed Christ to
suffer and die, as would certainly cause Men to blush who advance it, if they
were not wholly given over to Blindness and Stupidity. As our Saviour, in his
Sufferings, was, in such an unparalleled Manner, obedient to the Father’s Will,
his Death hath Virtue and Efficacy in itself, independent of any Act of the
Divine Will, to attain the great Ends whereunto it was designed. This
Transaction was the Effect of the sovereign Will of God; but the Worth, Virtue,
and Efficacy of his Death and Sacrifice are intrinsic, and not of arbitrary Appointment.
If it was, God might have willed his Death, without decreeing it should answer
any important End, either respecting himself, or Men; and he certainly did, for
aught we know, Besides, was it possible for infinite Goodness, Holiness, and
Wisdom, to will the Sufferings of the innocent Jesus to an End, which
they, in their own Nature, had no Virtue or Efficacy at all to answer? but it
is wholly of arbitrary
Appointment, that such an End is answered by his Sufferings and Sacrifice.
They are but swelling Words
of Vanity which those Men use, concerning the Goodness of God, in this
Affair, who deny the real Merit of the Sacrifice of Christ. If Divine
Goodness is, as they say it is, exalted gloriously, in freely pardoning Sin,
without Satisfaction for it, and the Death of Christ could not, nor was
intended to satisfy for Sin, nor had any Virtue in itself; but, what
Efficacy soever it hath, it is extrinsical, and of Divine Appointment
only; then how is Goodness displayed in delivering him up to Suffering and
Death for us? Towards Christ it was an Act of Severity, and to us no
Instance of Goodness, which was at all necessary to our Pardon and Salvation.
For the Death of Christ could not be necessary to our Remission, if it
had no intrinsic Worth in it, meritorious of Forgiveness. There
was no Goodness manifested to us Sinners, in the Gift
of Christ for us, if his Death
had no intrinsic Virtue in it: All the Kindness, which can be pretended
in this Matter towards us, is God’s Decreeing, that his Death shall be a Condition,
or Reason of our Pardon, without any Virtue in it to take away, or
atone for our Guilt. And such a Virtue as this, God might have assigned
unto the Death of any Martyr, or even of a Beast offered to him
in Sacrifice, if that had been his Pleasure. For such Virtue is assignable to
another Person or Thing, if it is assignable unto Christ.
IV. The Government of the Jews was Theocratical, or a Theocracy: God took upon himself the Government
of that People. And,
1. He gave them a perfect Law, which required the Practice of
all Holiness, and forbid every Sin. God, who is infinitely holy, cannot
require less than perfect Purity, however depraved the Subjects of his Rule
are. He can make no Allowance for their Weaknesses, Temptations, or Occasions
to Evil.
2. His Law threatened Sin with Death. The Soul that sins
shall die. And this Threatening respected every Sin, and all Degrees of
Sin. So that every Deviation from the Rule of Duty, and the Want of perfect
Conformity to the Law, in the Manner of the Performance of it, subjected to
that awful Menace. If, as their King, he had proceeded according to this Law,
no Man among them could have enjoyed any Favour, or even Life; and therefore,
3. God appointed the Offering of Sacrifices to make Atonement
for Sin, in many Cases. Wherein we may observe,
(1.) He did not charge or impute Guilt unto the Offerer of those
Sacrifices, as the Governor of that People.
(2.) Nor were they subject unto the Commination of Death, upon
their Offering those Sacrifices. But,
(3.) Were to be continued in Life, and in the Enjoyment of such
Favours and Privileges, as were granted unto them by God, who took upon himself
the Rule over them, as a Nation. The Law of Sacrifices was, therefore, political;
but intended of God, if the divine Writer to the Hebrews mistakes not
their Meaning, as Types of far greater Things than any they really contained,
viz. the actual Removal of Guilt, Freedom from the Condemnation, and
Curse of the Law, and Escaping Divine Vengeance.
4. Some Sins were not to be atoned for by Sacrifices, in this political
and typical Sense; but the guilty Persons must suffer corporal Death
for those Crimes, viz. Murder, Adultery, Blasphemy, etc.
5. Sacrifices were appointed for some atrocious Crimes, viz.
Defiling a Servant-maid, Theft, and Perjury; and therefore it is not true,
that they were instituted only for common Frailties, and Sins of Ignorance.
(Leviticus 5:1, Leviticus 6:4, 5, Leviticus 19:20.)
6. The anniversary Sacrifice was offered for Sins of all
Sorts, as the Terms used concerning it do clearly and abundantly evince, Iniquities
and Transgressions in all their Sins. Those Terms include all Sorts of
Sins, which was intended to signify, that a spiritual Atonement was to be made
even for such Offences, on Account of which, the guilty Person must suffer corporal
Death, according unto that Law, which was the Instrument of the Jewish
Polity. As to the temporal Life of that People, it was preserved
or forfeited, as they were innocent or guilty of such Crimes, for which no
Sacrifices were appointed of God: But that was not the Rule according to which
God proceeded in the Business of Salvation. If it had been so, no Murderer,
etc. could have been pardoned and saved.
It was the Design of the
Institution of Sacrifices for lesser Crimes, to teach that People, that
the Remission of them, small, as they might be inclined to esteem them,
could not be without Atonement made: And the Institution of the anniversary
Sacrifice furnished them with a Ground of Hope of the Pardon of such Crimes,
for which those, who were guilty of them, must suffer corporal Death.
And this seems to be one Reason, why the Author of the Epistle to the
Hebrews particularly observes, that that anniversary Sacrifice could not take
away Sin, in order to prove the Necessity of another. That being more
comprehensive than the others, it was most apposite to his Purpose to instance
in that, for that Reason; and for that Reason, chiefly, it was so, (Leviticus
16:16, 21.) Yet, it also seems to be instanced in, with a farther View, viz.
to prove the Necessity of another Sacrifice to be offered for lesser Sins,
than what the Levitical Law required. For, in this anniversary
Sacrifice, there was a Remembrance even of such Sins, for which other
Sacrifices had been before offered. And, therefore, tho’ the Offerer was not
liable to Penalty, by the political Law, yet he could not plead his
Pardon in a higher View, by Virtue of that Sacrifice which he offered before
unto God; neither could he by Virtue of this anniversary one, for that must be
repeated at the Return of the Year.
7. That Law, Commandment, or Covenant which consisted of the Moral,
Ceremonial, and Judicial Laws given unto that People, did not contain,
promise, or convey real, spiritual Remission, Peace, and Reconciliation
to Sinners. It was impossible, that those Blessings should be enjoyed by Virtue
of that Constitution, wherein there was neither a Priest fit to make real
spiritual Atonement for Sin, nor any Sacrifice offered, which could be of
Efficacy unto so important an End. The Law made nothing perfect, neither
Persons nor Things; neither those who officiated in Divine Service, nor them
for whom they acted, in the Execution of the sacerdotal Office. Hence the
inspired Writer speaks of the Whole of their Service in such depreciating Terms
as he does, viz. carnal Ordinances, weak and beggarly Elements; the
Rudiments of the World; a Shadow, and not the Image. The highest
Excellency and Glory of all that Apparatus of Service was its typical
Relation unto the glorious Things promised, exhibited, and conveyed in
another, and infinitely better Covenant, which is abundantly proved in the
Epistle to the Hebrews.
8. The new Covenant promises, contains, and conveys those
glorious Things themselves, which the Law was a typical Representation
of, and no more: Nothing greater or nobler, can be attributed unto it. And
those Things are real spiritual Remission, eternal Redemption,
Reconciliation, Freedom of Access unto God, and the everlasting Enjoyment of
him, by Virtue of the Blood of this Covenant. As it was not an Offer of political
Pardon that was obtained by legal Sacrifices, but Pardon itself, in
that Sense: So the Blood of Christ procured not an Offer of Remission, but
Remission itself, taken in that Sense which is proper and peculiar
unto the new Covenant, wherein his Sacrifice was appointed and provided.
The Blood of Bulls and of Goats availed unto the Procurement of political
Pardon of Sin, according to the old Covenant, and not unto an Offer
of Forgiveness: And the precious Blood of our dear Lord Jesus obtained
for us real Pardon in a spiritual Sense, and not an Offer of it,
according to that better Covenant, which is established upon better Promises.
These Things serve fully to discover the Fallacy and inconclusive Nature
of the Reasoning of the Socinians, on the momentous Subject of the
Satisfaction of Christ. What Force is there in those Arguments, which are drawn
from the Levitical Sacrifices, to prove the Non-imputation of Sin to
him? That he did not suffer the Penalty our Guilt demerits? And that real
spiritual Remission results not from his Death? None at all. Since that
whole Oeconomy only was a Shadow and obscure Representation of
these Matters, it is not to be expected, that we can find the Things themselves
therein. And, because they were only typical of those Things,
therefore was it necessary, that there should be another Priest to act for us, in
Things pertaining to God. Another Sacrifice was absolutely needful
to be offered, in order to make proper, real, and spiritual Atonement
for Sin. Real Spiritual Atonement was not, nor could be made by any, or all
the Rites of the first Covenant; nor was it the Intention of that Covenant
to supply the Federates with real spiritual Pardon. That Pardon
was not spiritual, but typical only of such Remission; and
that Atonement was homogeneous, or
typical only. As the new Covenant dispenses real spiritual Pardon,
so real spiritual Atonement is made by the Sacrifice, which that
Covenant provides.
CHAPTER
2 ¾
OF CHRIST’S BEARING
SIN
I. AS I intend, in this Chapter, to prove the Imputation of our
Sins to Christ, I would first enquire into the Ground of the Charge of our
Guilt to him, and of his Bearing it for us. If no Foundation can be shewn,
whereon our Crimes might, in Justice, be placed to his Account, I readily
acknowledge, that the Opinion of his bearing our Sin is indefensible, and it
must necessarily sink, together with our Hope of Salvation by him. But, blessed
be God, our Hopes of Remission, by Virtue of his Sacrifice, are built upon a
most solid Basis. For, Christ and the Church constitute one mystical Person.
He is the Head, and his People are the Members: Or such a Union subsists
between him and them, as is a proper Foundation for the Act of the Imputation
of their Sins to him. And he is their Surety. By so much was Jesus made
the Surety a better Testament (Hebrews 7:22). A Surety is one who
undertakes to pay, suffer, or do something for others, either because they are defective
in Credit, or Ability. Thus Judah became Surety to his Father for
his Brother Benjamin: I will be Surety for him; of my Hand
shalt thou require him; if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before
thee, then let me bear the Blame, (or I will be Sin, i.e. accounted
guilty) for ever (Genesis 43:9). And the Apostle Paul undertook
to satisfy Philemon both for Wrong and Debt, in Behalf of Onesimus:
If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee aright, put that on mine Account, I
will repay it (Philemon 1:18, 19). Judah’s Sponsion respected the
Security of the Person of his Brother: The Apostle’s related unto the
Satisfaction of Philemon, for Wrong and Debt. The Suretyship of Christ
includes both: The Safety of the Persons of his People, and the Payment of
their Debt, or making Satisfaction for that Wrong which they have done.
The latter is here principally
intended, which was Christ’s undertaking to accomplish the Will of the Father
in our Redemption: Then said I, Lo, I come, in the Volume of the Book it is
written of me: I delight to do thy Will, O my God: yea, thy Law
is within my Heart (Psalm 40:7, 8). The Father’s Will, and his own
voluntary Engagement, brought upon him an Obligation to suffer and die: Ought
not Christ to have suffered these Things (Luke 24:26)? And, therefore, it
is false, which one asserts, viz. that Christ was not under a moral
Obligation to suffer for us. This Sponsion is the Ground of the Imputation
of our Sins to him, and of the Infliction of Penalty upon him. Mr. T.
objects several Things to evade the Evidence, which is given unto this
important Truth, where Christ is expressly called a Surety. Says he, 1. This
is the only Place where he is so called. He is no less truly a Surety, than
if he had been so called in a thousand Places. One express Testimony from God
is a sufficient Evidence of Truth. 2. Not our Surety. It is not
difficult to determine whole Surety he is, and must be. He is the Surety of the
defective Party in the Covenant, which is not God, but us. 3. A
Surety is one who undertakes for the Performance of a Promise. 1. This is
but an imperfect Account of a Surety. Judah was a Surety for his Brother
unto his Father, but did not undertake for the Performance of any Promise of
his. 2. It is blasphemous to imagine, that God had Need of a Surety, to
secure the Performance of his Promises, or to assure us by his Sponsion of
their Fulfilment. No Creature can be of equal Credit or Ability, with God. And
such only Mr. T. thinks Christ is. 3. He confounds Mediation and
Suretyship. f4 A Person may be a Mediator, and yet not be a Surety. Moses
was the former, but not the latter. Christ is both Mediator and Surety.
Again, Christ is a Surety in the
Discharge of his sacerdotal Office, as the Words evidently suppose. And,
therefore, he offered himself a Sacrifice, as a Surety: Or that Act was a
Fulfilment of his Sponsion. Schilctingius was aware of this, and
endeavours to enervate the Force of the Argument, taken from hence to prove,
that Christ is our Surety; but it is in a very weak and frivolous Manner.
His Reason, that we did not send Christ, is trifling. For, not his Mission, but
his Undertaking makes him a Surety. f5 If Christ acted as a Surety,
in the offering of himself a Sacrifice for Sin, that was the Matter of his
Undertaking, in his Sponsion, and he must be our Surety, and not God’s: And
that he did so, is evident, because he is a Surety, as he is inverted with, and
acts in the priestly Office.
II. In his bearing Sin, we may observe the Act of the Father,
which was the Imputation of our Sins to him, or placing that Wrong we have done
to his Account. This is clearly expressed: The Lord hath laid on him the
Iniquities of us all. Iniquities mean sinful Actions, the same as Transgressions,
for which he was wounded. No Instance can be produced, where (zy[) Iniquity intends Suffering, merely, or in an abstracted
Consideration from Guilt, as the Cause of Suffering. He made our Iniquities
to meet, or fall upon Christ; so ([gp) is sometimes rendered. f6 The same Thought is
expressed in these Words: When thou shalt make his Soul (µça) Guilt, or Sin, as it is sometimes
translated. f7 Christ could not become a Sacrifice for Sin, without a
Charge of Guilt or Sin to him. And this Point of Doctrine is asserted by the
Apostle: He hath made him to be Sin for us, who knew no Sin. The
Sufferings of Christ were the Consequence of the Imputation of Sin unto him;
hence, in Suffering, he was made a Curse, which he could not be, in
Justice, considered as innocent.
III. Two Acts of Christ are observable, with Respect to his
bearing Sin.
1. The Susception of it. He took it upon himself: Or fully and
freely consented unto the Charge of our Guilt to him. This Act is expressed by
the Word (açn); he bare the Sin of many. In various Places the Septuagint
render this Word by, (lamba>nw) which is used to
express Taking upon, or Receiving, as may be seen in the Margin. f8 Our
blessed Saviour received our Guilt, by consenting unto the Imputation of it to
himself.
2. He bare it as a Burden; so the Word (lks) whereby his Bearing of Sin is expressed, properly
signifies: He shall bear (lksy) their Iniquities (Isaiah
53:11). He stood under the heavy Load of our Guilt, until it was fully atoned
for, which would have sunk us deeply into the infernal Pit. The former
Word expresses his Taking Sin upon him, and this represents his Standing under
that massy Weight. Several Things may be observed, which confirm the
Thought of Christ’s bearing the Guilt of Sin, in Suffering for it.
(1.) Making his Soul Guilt, and causing our Iniquities to meet
in, or fall upon him, express an Act of
God, which is distinct from Bruising and Putting him to Grief; and,
therefore, they design an Imputation of Sin, in order to suffering Punishment.
(2.) He bare that which we have Conscience of, which must
be Guilt. That which our Consciences are purged from, by the Blood of Christ,
he bare in his Sufferings for us, which is Sin or Guilt.
(3.) He bare that for which Sacrifices were offered, and that
must be Sin committed. Hence, in Opposition to the legal Sacrifices, it
is said of him, that he was once offered to bear the Sin of many, without
which he will appear the second Time.
(4.) Christ bare that which there was a Remembrance of in
the anniversary Sacrifice, which was Guilt contracted.
(5.) He bare that, which, the Blood of Bulls and Goats
could not take away, viz. our Guilt, or Sin, which we have
committed. I think, that a proper Consideration of the Scope and Connexion of
the Divine Writer, in the 9th Chapter of Hebrews, and the
Beginning of the 10th, will be sufficient to convince of the Truth of these
Things.
(6.) The Death of Christ could not be penal, without an
Imputation of Guilt to him, as the meritorious Cause of his suffering and
Death. For, where no Charge of Sin is, no Penalty can be inflicted, in
Justice. And, therefore, when Christ suffered Punishment, or was made a Curse
for us, he was made Sin, by the Imputation of our Sins to him.
IV. Mr. Taylor is pleased to observe, That there
are nine Bearers of Sin.
I. God (Exodus 32:32;
Exodus 34:7; Numbers 14:18; Joshua 24:19; Psalm 25:18;
Psalm 32:1, etc.). i.e. he forgives it. 1. He imputed it
to Christ. 2. Punished Sin in him, when he was made a Curse. 3. Acquits us of
our Guilt. 2. Christ (Isaiah 53:11, 12). How he bare Sin hath
been shewn, 1. Our Lord took upon himself, or received our Guilt, in consenting
unto the Charge of it to him. 2. Bare it as a Burden, laid on him by God. 3. The
Angel who was with the Israelites in the Wilderness (Exodus 18:21).
This was Christ. And Pardoning Sin is intended, as we translate the Word. 4. The
Priests and Levites (Exodus 28:38; Leviticus 10:17; Numbers
17:1-23), i.e. ministerially, or as they performed those sacrificial
Services, which were appointed to take away Sin, in a typical Sense. 5. Such
who were offended (Genesis 50:17; Exodus 10:17; 1 Samuel 15:25-1;
Samuel 25:28). This designs Forgiveness. 6. The Scape-Goat (Leviticus
16:22). That is to say, typically. 7. The Criminals themselves (Leviticus
7:18, etc.). 1. Sin was imputed to them. 2. They suffered
Punishment. 8. The Children of the Israelites bore the Sins of their Parents
(Numbers 14:33; Lamentations 5:7). 1. They were not, nor
could be considered innocent. 2. It was Punishment which they suffered. 9. The
Prophet Ezekiel. f9 Unto what Purpose this last Instance is produced, it is
difficult to conjecture, and he seems to be entirely at a Loss, how to improve
it to his Advantage.
V. The Author proceeds to make Observations, on his laboured
Collection of Texts, wherein Bearing Sin is mentioned.
1. No Levitical Sacrifice
is ever said to bear Sin. The Scape-Goat did bear Sin; but it was
not sacrificed, or slain. f10
Answ. 1. The Imposition
of Hands on the Sacrifice, there is Reason to think, was attended with an
Acknowledgment of Guilt. 2. If those Sacrifices did not bear Sin, why are they
called (µça) Guilt, or Sin? 3. The Scape-Goat, which he allows
bore Sin, belonged unto the anniversary Sacrifice, and by that was Atonement
made (Leviticus 16:10) 4. Not to mention any of the Stories which the Jewish
Writers, relate, concerning the Scape-Goat, two Things are to be
observed in real spiritual Atonement for Sin, viz. the Punishment of it
in Christ, and its Removal. The slain Goat typically represented the
former, and the Scape-Goat the latter. As the anniversary Sacrifice was
more comprehensive, or of greater Extent than the other Sacrifices, in that
Atonement which was made by it for Sin: So there was in it a fuller typical Representation
of spiritual Atonement than in any other. The slain Goat typified
Christ’s Sufferings, and the Scape- Goat his Removal of our Guilt, thereby,
from us, and out of the Sight of God as a Judge.
2. When the great God is said to bear Sin, the Meaning, I
apprehend, must be that he took or carried it away, for this is a common and
current Sense of the Word (açn) f11
Answ. 1. I grant that
the Word is often to be understood in that Sense. But, 2. He must allow, that
it is also used to express Taking up and Bearing. 3. Let us consider, how God
takes or carries away Sin. Is it making that undone, which is done? No, for
that implies a Contradiction. Is it taking away the criminal Action, physically
considered? No, that is impossible. Is it reckoning or accounting the
Sinner not to have committed the criminal Acts, which are taken away? No, for
that is contrary to Truth. It is not imputing, or not reckoning those Actions
to him, as relatively considered, or as Breaches of his holy Law. Hence,
the Apostle expresses Pardon thus: Blessed is the Man to whom the Lord will
not impute Sin. 4. Though God cannot otherwise bear Sin, than by pardoning
it; Christ could, and did take it upon himself, and bear it as a Burden, in
order to take it away, by making
Satisfaction for it. He adds, lks, too, <235311>Isaiah 53:11, will
admit the Sense of carrying off, or away, <234604>Isaiah
46:4. Even I will carry you off and I will deliver you. This Word is
also used, <235304>Isaiah 53:4. He
hath carried our Sorrows; which, doubtless, St. Matthew (<400817>Matthew 8:17.) understood
in the Sense of removing, or carrying off, when he saith, himself took [away]
our Infirmities, and bare [carried off] our Sicknesses. f12
Answ. 1. He well knows,
that this Word properly signifies to bear, sustain, or carry, as
a Man bears a Burden; nor can he produce an Instance, where it is used
in a different Sense. 2. Bearing in Isaiah 46:4, is a distinct
Act from delivering, which is afterwards promised, and therefore the Sense of
carrying off, cannot be admitted in that Place. 3. That Sense cannot be allowed
in Isaiah 53:4, because it is evidently the Design of the Prophet to
represent, or express what our Saviour endured, or underwent for us. 4. Matthew
did not understand the Term in that Sense, for he renders it by a Greek Word,
which signifies to bear, (o airwn) as a Man bears a Load. 5.
Christ’s Curing bodily Sicknesses was an Evidence and Effect, of his Bearing our
Sins, and that Penalty which they demerit, and, therefore, he applies, or
accommodates the Thing unto its Evidence and Effect, which is not unusual with
the New Testament Writers. A plain Instance of this we have: And gave
Gifts unto Men: in the Prophet, it is, received Gifts for
Men. f13
3. And in the same Sense, or one near akin to it, our Blessed
Lord, and the Jewish High-Priests,
Priests, and Levites, bare Sin, as they made Atonement for Sin, or suffered or
in those Things which God was pleased to appoint, as proper, on their Part,
either for the Removal, or to signify the Removal, or Taking away of Guilt.
In the Margin, says he: This Idea the Writers of the New Testament give us
of Atonement and Pardon; particularly, in Relation our to Lord.John
1:29. The Lamb of God, (o airwn) which taketh away the
Sin of the World. 1 John 3:5. He was manifested that he (arh)
might take away our Sins. Romans 11:27. When (afairein) I shall take away their Sins. Hebrews 10:4. It
is not possible that the Blood of Bulls and Goats should (perielein) take away Sins. Put way Sin, and bear the Sins
of many, signify the same Thing,Hebrews 9:26, 28. f14
Answ. 1. In Levitical Services, there was a typical Bearing
of Sin. 2. As the Effect of that, a typical and political Pardon
of Sin, or Removal of Guilt. 3. What Christ took away, he bare, and was made,
if we may believe the New Testament Writers: He bore our Sire in his
own Body on the Tree: He hath made him to be Sin for us who knew, no Sin.
4. That he took away our Guilt, is a certain and precious Truth;
but not believed by Mr. Taylor, for, according to his Opinion, Christ
obtained nothing more, than an Offer of Forgiveness, and it is left to
us to do that, where upon follows the Removal of our Guilt. In his Opinion,
Christ neither bare, nor bare away our Sin. 5. In Romans 11:27, God’s
Act of Pardon is expressed, and not what our Saviour did and suffered, in order
to the Removal of our Guilt. 6. It is false, which he affirms, that to put
away Sin, and bear the Sins of many, signify the same Thing, in Hebrews
9:26, 28. For putting away Sin, by the Sacrifice of himself, is the Effect, and
his bearing Sin, in the offering of himself, is the Cause. Therefore, they
differ as a Cause, and its Effect resulting from it, do differ, and are not the
same Thing. 4. His fourth Observation not being to the Purpose, I shall take no
Notice of it, viz. Forbearing, for a Season, to inflict deserved Punishment.
f15
5. Says he, The Word also denotes to bear a Burden; and
so metaphorically to bear, or to be liable to bear, or endure Punishment and
Suffering. Thus Criminals bore their own Iniquities. f16
Answ. 1. He allows that
the Word denotes to bear a Burden, and, therefore, when it is used to express Christ’s
Bearing our Sin, it may intend his Bearing it upon himself, as a Load. But, 2.
He will never be able to prove, that the Word (lks) bear, hath any other Signification, which is used to
express Christ Bearing our Sin, or Guilt. 3. When Descendants bore the Whoredoms
or Iniquities of their Parents, which he mentions, we must observe,
(1.) They were not innocent, but guilty, and guilty of the same Sins, as their
Fathers were. (2.) Guilt was charged on them. And, (3.) They suffered
Punishment. Therefore, (4.) The Terms used in Relation unto the Sufferings and
Death of Christ, or his Bearing Sin, are properly expressive of a Charge of
Guilt, of Bearing it, and of suffering Punishment, in Consequence of that
Imputation of Sin or Guilt. No unnatural and forced Sense is put
upon them, when we interpret them to such a Meaning. This is well worthy of
Observation.
6. He seems conscious to himself, that his sixth Observation,
which relates unto Ezekiel’s Bearing the Iniquities of the Children of Israel,
cannot convey any Light to us on this Subject: And, therefore, I may justly
pass that over. Now he comes to his Conclusion.
7. Upon the Whole, says he, It is abundantly evident, no
Proof can be drawn from Scripture, that Bearing Sin includes the Notion of
transferring Guilt from the Nocent to the Innocent. f17
Answ. 1. According to the
Scripture all Men universally, are become guilty before God. There is no
innocent Person among the Race of Adam, who naturally descend from him;
how, therefore, can we expect to find any Account, in Scripture, of
transferring Guilt from the Nocent to the Innocent: All this Labour of Mr. Taylor’s
is but solemn Trifling on this momentous Subject. Nor, 2. Is it to
be proved from Scripture, that God ever did, or will decree, that the Innocent
shall suffer, on Occasion of the Crimes of the Nocent; will Mr. Taylor for
that Reason deny, that Christ suffered, on Occasion of our Sins? He cannot, if
he really thinks, that the Death of Christ is a Condition, Reason, or Motive
with God to forgive sin. 3. The Affair of Christ’s Death is a singular and
unparalleled Case, and, therefore, it is preposterous and absurd
to argue, that, that cannot be in this Case, which is not to be found in
other Cases, which cannot be compared with it.
In another Place, he farther
objects unto the Transferring of our Guilt to Christ, and recommends a Pamphlet,
intitled, Second Thoughts concerning the Sufferings and Death of Christ.
I shall consider briefly what that Author offers on the Subject, in an Appendix
to these Sheets. Says Mr. Taylor, Guilt is my doing Wrong, whereby I
become obnoxious to Punishment. And, therefore, Guilt in its own Nature
cannot be transferred. For Punishment is necessarily connected with the
Wrong done, and the Wrong is done by none but myself: Therefore
Punishment can be due to none, and, consequently can possibly be inflicted upon
none but myself. f18
Answ. 1. Actions good or
bad, physically considered, cannot be transferred. But, 2. Actions relatively
considered, or in their Relation to the Law, may be transferred, or
reckoned, or imputed to others, when there is a proper Foundation for it, as
there is in the Affair of the Imputation of our Sins to Christ, viz. his
Sponsion, or his becoming a Surety to God for us. 3. It is not supposed, that
he did the Wrong, nor was Christ reputed to have done the Wrong; but the Wrong
done by us was put to his Account. As the Apostle Paul desired, that the
Wrong as well as Debt of Onesimus, might be imputed to him, or placed to
his Account. And, 4. Hence Punishment, in Justice, was inflicted on Christ,
upon the Ground of his Suretyship-Engagement to God for us. 5. The Reason, why
nothing parallel to this may be acted among Men in criminal Cases, is,
Rulers and Subjects are equally bound by natural Justice, and,
therefore, Lawgivers have no Power to require, or accept of the Sponsion of an
innocent Person for the Guilty, in criminal Cases; nor hath any innocent Man
Power over himself, or a Right to put himself under the Obligation of
any Criminal, if he would. 6.
The Righteousness of God’s Nature will not permit him to suffer Sin to go
unpunished. His Will to punish Sin is necessary, though free; if it were not,
he might have willed to permit the Creature to fin for ever, without suffering
Punishment. But, 7. As God is above the Law, wherein it is constituted or
appointed, that Punishment shall be inflicted on the Guilty, by Perpetration of
Offence; he can dispense with it in that Particular, and admit of the Sponsion
of another, who hath Power over himself, to put himself under our Obligation.
We know, full as well as any Socinian whatever, that nothing like this
may be transacted among Men; but, if we are not greatly mistaken, the Judicial
Procedures of God, in the Imputation of Sin to Christ, and punishing it in him,
and pardoning Sin to the Guilty, are not to be measured by, compared with, or
accommodated unto the Judicial Proceedings of Men, in criminal Cases. And
herein consists much, both of the Glory and Mystery of our
Redemption, by the Death of Christ. If there was not something singular and
unparalleled in this Affair, there would be neither Mystery nor Glory
in it. And this is what some Men are labouring to prove, out of Hatred to
the Glory of God, as it shines through Jesus Christ, in the fulness of
our Salvation, by his Death, as me meritorious Cause thereof. Mr. Taylor elsewhere
speaks thus: It may be alledged, that the Lord laid on him the Iniquities of
us all,Isaiah 53:6. But who knows not, that our Redemption is imaged by
various figurative Expressions? As, healed by his Stripes; washed from
our Sins in his Blood; he was made Sin for us: Which, if
understood literally and strictly, would supply very strange Doctrine. f19
Answ. 1. The Stripes and
Blood of Christ are the meritorious Cause. 2. Our Healing, Peace, and Pardon
are the Effect. 3. He was made Sin, by a Charge of our Guilt to him. Which
Things are not strange, but glorious, and will eternally be so
esteemed by those who are the subjects of Redemption. He adds, Taking the
Passage, as it stands in our Translation, we ought in Reason to interpret it
agreeably to the preceding Phrases, which relate to the same Thing. Isaiah
53:5, He was wounded for our Transgressions, he was bruised for our
Iniquities; the Chastisement of our Peace was upon him, and with his
Stripes we are healed. — And the Lord hath laid on him, (it is in
the Margin, hath made to meet on him) the Iniquities of us all; that
is, the Sufferings by which we are all redeemed. f20
Answ. 1. Let an Instance
be produced, where (zw[) signifies merely Suffering,
or Suffering without Relation to Guilt, and take what is contended for. 2. In
Isaiah 53:5 the Prophet declares for what he suffered, viz. our
Transgressions: And, in these Words, he expresses God’s Act of charging our
Sins to him, when he suffered, and in order to his Suffering. 3. He opposes the
Imputation of our Sins to him unto that false Opinion the Jews had of
Christ’s being stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted, for his own
Guilt. And, therefore, it is not his Suffering, which is meant, but the meritorious
Cause of his Sufferings, Guilt, not his own, but ours. He subjoins, But,
considering the Metaphor of Sheep going astray, by which the Wanderings of Mankind
are represented, and the Turn which St. Peter gives to this Passage, I
am inclined to think, that the Spirit of God, in Isaiah, has Reference
to the Meeting of stray Sheep, in order to bring them back again to the
Shepherd,1 Peter 2:24, 25; Isaiah 53:6. — And the Lord hath made to meet
(occursare) by him the Iniquities of us all. That is to say, by
him the Lord hath caused to meet and stop the Iniquities of us all, wherein we
have wandered from him, to turn us back to himself, who is the Shepherd of our
Souls.
Answ. 1. The Word
signifies to meet, without including the Idea of Stopping. 2. Christ is the
Subject, in, upon, or against whom our Iniquities, were made to
meet, as the whole Scope of the Place fully proves. 3. The Prophet speaks
not of our Persons, but of our Crimes. And, 4. He speaks of Crimes committed,
or of Guilt already contracted. 5. Stopping us in a sinful Course, and making
us to turn back to the Shepherd of our Souls, is not stopping our Sins which we
have before committed. He observes, that the Word we translate, hath laid, is,
in Hiphil, which only adds the Idea of causing or making, the same that we
render meet, Exodus 23:4. If thou meet thine Enemy’s Ox or Ass going,
astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again; to no other Purpose,
which I can discern, than letting the Reader know, that he is acquainted with
the different Sense of Verbs, in different Conjugations, in
the Hebrew Language; and that is a Matter of no great Importance.
However, this Instance proves, that the Word ([gp) does not
necessarily include in it the Idea of Stopping, for a Man might meet his
Enemy’s Ox or Ass, and not stop either. Whether Men act with upright and
sincere Intentions, who thus shamefully pervert the Scripture, Mr. Taylor,
and others, will do well, in a most serious Manner, to consider,
lest they continue to wrest it unto their own Destruction. Thus far of
Christ’s Bearing Sin.
CHAPTER
3 ¾
OF THE GREATNESS OF
CHRIST’S SUFFERINGS, AND OF THE EVIDENCES, THAT THEY WERE VICARIOUS.
I. IF our Saviour really bore the Sins of the many, who
obtain eternal Salvation, through the Merit of his Sacrifice, his Sufferings,
certainly, were exceedingly great. For the Imputation of such a Mass of
Guilt must be followed with Sorrows, Grief and Distress of Soul, inexpressible.
1. Let us consider several Expressions of his, in Relation to
this Matter. And, our blessed Lord speaks thus: Now, is my Soul (tetaraktai) troubled, and what shall I say? The Word, which we
render troubled, is very significant, and expressive of Terror (>John
12:27; Esther 7:6),
Consternation (Genesis 41:8), Trembling (Isaiah 64:2),
and Bowing down (Psalm 42:6) through Grief and Fear,
in each of these Senses, the Septuagint use it, as the Reader will
see by examining the Places referred unto. And, therefore, the Anguish and
Distress, which our Saviour was now the Subject of, must be extremely great.
Add to this: My Soul is (perilupov) exceeding sorrowful
even unto Death. The Word signifies to be surrounded, or encompassed
with Sorrow on every Side. And the Septuagint use it to express a
Dejection and Casting down of the Mind, through overwhelming Grief (Matthew
26:38; Psalm 43:5; Matthew 26:37). This our Lord said, to
express the Sorrow and most grievous Anguish which then attended him: He
began to be sorrowful, and (adhmonein) very heavy, or exceedingly
full of Anguish, insomuch that he was ready to faint.
2. The Prostration of our Lord shews both his Humility, and
the depressing Weight of Sorrow, which his holy Soul laboured under. He fell
on his Face to the Earth (Matthew 26:39), and lay in the Dust,
through the Force of that pungent Grief, which took deep and firm Possession of
his pure Mind. And he became thus prostrate three Times (Matthew 26:44).
3. His Agony is an Evidence unto what Height the afflictive
Passions of Fear and Sorrow role in him: And, being in an Agony, be prayed
more earnestly (Luke 22:44). The Word (agwnia) Agony, signifies great Anxiety, or Perturbation of Mind.
4. The Tears be shed, and the strong Cryings be poured
forth, prove the inconceivable Anguish, Grief, and Sorrow, his whole Soul
was filled with (Hebrews 5:5) His Supplication unto the Father, is
called Roaring (Psalm 22:1), because of the vehement and intense
Manner, wherein he addressed him, through the Greatness of that prevailing
Sorrow, which overwhelmed his Heart.
5. The extraordinary Effect, which the Distress of his Soul
produced in his animal Frame, is a full Evidence of its unparalleled Greatness.
Through the extreme Anguish of his Mind, he sweat as it were great Drops of
Blood falling down to the Ground (Luke 22:44) Instances of the like
are not at all needful to be produced, to prove the Credibility of the Fact;
because, as there never was such a Subject of Suffering, in this World, so
never did any one, upon Earth, suffer like him: His Visage was so marred,
more than any Man’s, and his Form more than the Sons of Men (Isaiah 52:14).
II. We shall be at no Loss, in accounting for the extreme Dolors
of our Saviour, if we duly consider the positive Acts of God, which he,
as a righteous Judge, taking Vengeance on Sin, put forth, upon the Soul of
Christ immediately. Men wounded him in his Body; but his Father bruised and put
him to Grief, in his Soul, when he made that an Offering for Sin.
Wherein the Particulars following, are observable:
1. The Father made him Sin for us, and caused our
Iniquities to meet in, or fall upon him. Not that the Father accounted him
to have committed those Sins, or Iniquities, or produced a Consciousness in him
of the Perpetration of those Crimes, which he bore, in order to atone for them;
but he impressed his Mind with a piercing Sense of the Charge of our
Guilt to him, and excited a most painful Sensation, in his Soul, of the dreadful
Malignity and Demerit of Sin, wherewithal he stood charged, as the
Surety of his People.
2. He made him a Curse: Christ hath redeemed us from the
Curse of the Law, being made a Curse for us (Galatians 3:13). Our Saviour
was as really made a Curse for us, as we are, in Fact, delivered from the Law’s
Curse, in Consequence of his Sufferings and Death. To say, as the Socinians do,
as it were, he was made a Curse, or he seemed to be made a Curse, is an impious
Contradiction of the express Assertion of the holy Spirit, and not an
Interpretation of it. This was not the Act of Men, for they could not make our
blessed Lord a Curse; nor the Act of infernal Spirits. It was the Act of
God, which he put forth, immediately upon the Soul of our Redeemer, whereby he
most deeply pierced and put him to Grief.
3. The Father withdrew from him, or forsook him.
This Dereliction affected not his Union to, or with the Father, for no Breach
was made on that: Nor the Interest he had in his Approbation and Delight:
Neither that Sustentation under his Sorrows by the Father, which he had
promised to him; but it was the Want of the Enjoyment of his ravishing and
delightful Presence. As in his Crucifixion he enjoyed not the chearing
Rays of the natural Sun: So in that most awful Season, he suffered the
Loss of the comforting Rays of heavenly Light, by the thick Cloud of our
Guilt, interposing, between his holy Soul and the Father of Glory. He was
encompassed by Darkness without, and deprived of the Light of Divine Favour within.
And, therefore, he uttered that sore Complaint: My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me (Psalm 22:1)? This was the Punishment the
Loss, which he endured. Farther,
4. The Father impressed his Mind with a Sense of his vindictive
Displeasure against Sin. As he had decreed, that Christ should suffer for us,
and he had consented to become a Victim for our Guilt: He (ouk efeisato) did not spare him (Romans 8:32), or
deal tenderly with him; but commanded the Sword of Justice to awake against,
and smite him: Awake, O Sword against my Shepherd, and against the Man that
is my Fellow, smite the Shepherd (Zechariah 13:7). Sovereign Mercy
towards us provided and presented the Victim before Divine Justice, with his
free Consent; and God, as a Judge, calls upon Justice to execute Vengeance:
Justice, armed with all its flaming Terrors, rises, and falls upon the willing
Sacrifice, and his Soul is absorpt of Grief and Anguish, in
Consequence thereof.
III. The Sufferings of our blessed Lord from Men, previous unto,
and in his Crucifixion, were extremely great. What Indignity and
Reproach were cast upon him! Unto what Scorn, Derision, and Shame was he
exposed! How cruelly and inhumanly was he used, in his Examination and Trial!
Men do not treat the most villainous Malefactor, in such a Manner, as
the innocent and meek Jesus was treated! He was the Subject of
the most contemptuous Speeches: Spit upon: Buffeted: Blindfolded,
and struck in the Face, taunted at, and called upon to prophesy, or declare
who smote him: He gave his Back to the Smiters, and his Cheeks to them that
plucked off the Hair, and hid not his Face from Shame and Spitting: Scourged:
Delivered by the Governor, convinced of his Innocency, and of the Malice of his
Enemies, into the Hands of barbarous, rude, and merciless Soldiers to be
mocked, derided, and crucified. They stripped him of his Garments,
arrayed him in Robes of mock Majesty: Platted a Crown of Thorns, and
put it on his Head, and smote him with a Reed, whereby his sacred Flesh was
torn, and Veins pierced: And, in Derision, bowed the Knee before him,
crying, Hail King of the Jews. They led him forth to the Place of
Execution, he bearing his Cross, until, as they might reasonably suppose, he
was ready to faint, through the cruel Usage he had received: His Limbs were violently
stretched, which must put him unto great Torture, and his Hands and Feet
were nailed to the accursed Tree; and, by how much more tender and
curious the Texture of his Body was, by so much the more, he was sensible of
Pain, and, therefore, the Piercing of his Hands and Feet must be attended with
exquisite Sensations of Pain. In these dreadful Circumstances, he was forsaken
by his Friends, and unpitied by the relentless Number of inhuman Spectators,
who surrounded his Cross.
Every tender Passion was
banished from the Breasts of the Beholders of him, in his Sufferings; nothing
but a savage Disposition possessed them. Hence, instead of Pity, he met
with Reviling, Insult, and Blasphemy. They wagged their Heads,
and cried out, He saved others, himself he cannot save. Let him
come down from the Cross, and we will believe on him; he trusted in God,
let him deliver him now, if he will have him.
And when the Extremity of his
Pains, thro’ the Dislocation of his Bones, and the Piercing of his Hands
and Feet, had brought on him a scorching Fever, which was attended with
extraordinary Thirst; there bloody Miscreants presented to him Gall and
Vinegar to drink, a most bitter and biting Potion. Thus the
innocent Jesus was delivered up into the Hands of Sinners, according
to the determinate Counsel and Foreknowledge of God, to be crucified and
slain. When we consider there Things, surely, we can’t but say: Oh, what
Wickedness is in the Mind of Man! Oh, what intense Love to poor Sinners
filled the Soul of our blessed Lord, that made him willing to undergo such
Sufferings, in order to save them from deferred Destruction! Oh, what an evil
Thing is Sin, that was the procuring Cause of all the Ignominy, Reproach,
Dolors, and Agonies, which our Saviour was exposed unto, and expired under, on
the Cross! Oh, how hard are our cursed Hearts, that they are not broken,
dissolved, and melted within us, by the Consideration of his agonizing
Pains, unparalleled Reproaches, and taunting Insults from his Enemies, when
he suffered for us, to redeem our Souls from Hell and Destruction! And, surely,
we must
be convinced, if we duly
consider what our Lord suffered from the Hand of the Father, what he underwent
from Men, by his Appointment and Decree, with a View to our
Redemption from Sin, and its penal Effects, that the Transaction of his
Death was necessary in order to our Salvation. Can we possibly persuade
ourselves to think, that this Affair was willed and decreed of God, without any
Necessity, or with no View to the Vindication of his Authority, and
Satisfaction of his Justice, in saving us from Misery? Or, that there is no
Fitness in the Death of Christ to atone for our Guilt, and procure the
Remission of our Sins, for which he suffered, both in his Soul and Body, in
this amazing, Manner? Surely, no such Imagination can find Admittance in
our Minds, if we will allow ourselves seriously to consider of those Things.
IV. Christ
suffered in our Stead: Or, his Sufferings were vicarious and in our Room.
1. This is evident from what is observed above. For, if he was
made Sin, if he was made a Curse, and if he suffered from the
Hand of God immediately, or if God himself, by positive Acts, put
forth upon him, did bruise and put him to Grief, or make his
Soul an Offering for Sin, his Sufferings were penal, and,
consequently, vicarious. Because no innocent Person can be the Subject
of Penalty, for Sins of his own, by Reason he hath committed none;
therefore, his penal Sufferings must be the Effect of the Guilt of others, and
he must endure those Sufferings, in their Place and Stead. It hath not
yet been proved, nor ever will be, that the Sufferings of Christ were not
penal, since in Suffering he was made a Curse.
2. He suffered for our Crimes: Says the Prophet: But
he was wounded for Transgressions, and bruised for our Iniquities. And the
Apostle asserts, that he died for our Sins, that he was delivered for our
Offences: The unbelieving Jews thought he was stricken, smitten
of God and afflicted, for Guilt of his own: But he was wounded for our
Transgressions, etc. This is spoken in Opposition to the false Opinion
of the incredulous Jews, who imagined, that he had contracted Guilt,
which rendered him worthy of Death, and very clearly suggests, that it was not
without a meritorious Cause he so suffered, but that, that Cause were
not Sins of his own, but those of others.
3. Our blessed Saviour died for us: God commended his Love
towards us, in that, while we were yet Sinners, Christ died for us. That is
to say, not for our Good only, but in our Room, and so for our Profit, as is
clear from the Use of the Preposition, and the Scope of the Place. The
Preposition is used to express in the Place or Stead of another. That
(uper sou) in thy Stead, and (uper Cristou) in
Christ’s Stead. The Scope of the Place evidently evinces, that this is the
Sense intended. For, the Apostle supposes, that for a good Man some might
dare to die (Romans 5:7). Not hazard Life, to preserve a good Man in
imminent Danger, as Mr. Taylor paraphrases the Text; but actually to
resign Life for him, or to die in his Stead. A Man may hazard his Life, and yet
preserve it. The Apostle designs an actual Resignation of Life, and not
Exposing Life to Danger, which may be, and often is done, without Dying. And
Christ is said to give his Life (anti pollwn) for many, i.e. in
their Stead.
4. The Life of Christ was given as a Ransom, (lutron) a Price of Redemption for many (Matthew 20:28),
which necessarily supposes, that he died in their Stead. For they were
obnoxious unto Death, on Account of Guilt, and he gave his Life to redeem them
from that Obnoxiousness to Death, and, therefore, his Death was vicarious, or,
he died in their Stead.
5. All those Effects are ascribed unto the Death of Christ,
which it may be thought to procure for us, as taken in that Point of Light.
(1.) Expiation of Sin. (2.) Peace and Reconciliation. (3.) Redemption from the
Curse of the Law. (4.) Security from suffering Divine Wrath and Vengeance.
There are such Effects as might be expected to arise from his Death, if he died
in our Room; and, therefore, there is clear and cogent Reason to
conclude, that he not only died for our Good, but in our Stead, considered
as Criminals, and for that Reason obnoxious to Death.
6. Our Forgiveness, on the Foundation of Christ’s Death, is an
Act of Righteousness. God set forth his Son to be a Propitiation, — to
declare his Righteousness: Not his saving Grace and Mercy, as Mr. Taylor
speaks, f21 but his Holiness and Justice. If God is just in forgiving
Sin, his Justice must be satisfied for the Sin pardoned, which it could not be
by the Death of Christ, if he died not in our Stead.
7. This Method of Pardon and Salvation became God: It
became him, for whom are all Things, and by whom are all Things, in bringing
many Sons to Glory, to make the Captain of their Salvation perfect through
Sufferings (Hebrews 2:10). The Condecency of this Procedure respects
the Righteousness of God’s Nature, and, therefore, Christ’s Sufferings must be
referred unto Justice, and, consequently, in Suffering, he was our Substitute.
CHAPTER
4 ¾
OF ATONEMENT, OR
RECONCILIATION FOR SIN
MR. Taylor apprehends,
that the Sense of Atonement hath not yet been understood. Let us; therefore, see
what additional Light he strikes upon this Subject. If he discovers any Thing
of Importance relating to this Matter, which we did not discern before, I
promise to give him those Praises, which such a Discovery demands.
I. Spiritual Atonement
for Sin, as it hath been understood, includes there Things in it: The Expiation
of Guilt. Reconciliation, or Peace with God. And the Sinner’s Impunity, or
Deliverance from an Obnoxiousness to Suffering Punishment, for his Guilt. Our Author’s
Design, is, if possible to explain away this Notion of Atonement, or
Reconciliation for Sin by the Death of Christ. The Reader ought carefully to
observe, that the Atonement made by Sacrifices was not followed with real,
spiritual Remission of Sin, as the proper Effect of those Sacrifices, by
whomsoever they were offered. Sacrifices were not required unto that End, nor
was it possible, that such an End could be brought about by them, which is
clearly asserted, and abundantly proved in the Epistle to the Hebrews.
II. Mr. Taylor opposes the Opinion of the Substitution
of the Sacrifice, in Stead of the Offender, and offers various Reasons against
it, which I shall take into Consideration.
1. The Sins for which Sacrifices were generally offered were
Sins of Ignorance, and ceremonial Uncleanness, which were not capital by Law. The Victim therefore could not die in the Offender’s
Stead, when his Offence was not punishable with Death. f22
Answ. 1. According to
the moral Law, all and every Sin was punishable with Death: “The Soul that sins
shall die. Death, therefore, is the Wages of every
Transgression of that Law. 2. As all Men are degenerate and guilty, the moral
Law cannot be the Rule of Judgment, as to Life and Death, in human Societies,
because there is no Man but hath forfeited his Life, according to that Law. For
it allows no Sinner to live. 3. The political Law, given to the Jews,
made some Breaches of the moral Law capital; as Murder, Blasphemy, and
Adultery: And other Breaches thereof it did not make capital: As Theft,
Uncleanness, in one Instance, and Perjury. And, therefore, some atrocious Crimes
did not subject a Man guilty of them to Death, in a political Sense. 4.
Sacrifices were not instituted for any Breach of the moral Law, which the political
Law made capital. Hence, David, in Relation unto a capital Offence,
whereof he had been guilty, says: Thou desirest not Sacrifice, i.e. for
this Sin of mine, else would I give it (<195116>Psalm 51:16). But it follows not, that those Sins for which they were
instituted, were not capital by the moral Law, or that those Breaches of the
moral Law, did not render a Person worthy of, and subject him to Death,
according to that Law. Therefore, 5. The Author’s Reason, why the Victim
could not die in the Offender’s Stead, entirely vanishes, viz. that it
was offered for Crimes not punishable with Death. 6. The political Law
required the Shedding of Blood for Transgressions of the moral Law, which were
not capital, in a political Sense; and, if the Sinner willfully neglected
to offer Sacrifice for his Offence, he was to die without Remedy. And,
therefore, 7. The political Law, or God, as the Governor of that People,
accepted of the Death of the Victim, as an Atonement for the Sin of the Offerer
of it, and allowed him to live, though by his Crime he had forfeited his Life;
and the Death of the Beast offered in Sacrifice was vicarious. 8. This
was a lively Type of the Substitution of Christ in our Room, and of his
Sufferings and Death in our Stead, to make real spiritual Atonement for
our Sins, in order to deliver us from that Curse, whereunto they subjected us.
The Socinians, as they are Enemies to the Whole of real Christianity:
So (dicam quod fentio) they are the greatest Triflers, where they
seem to reason most, in objecting against it.
2. If the Virtue or Efficacy of every particular Sacrifice
consisted in Suffering n vicarious Punishment, then, whereas that Punishment
was the same in all such Sacrifices, by whomsoever offered, it must have had
its Effects in all those Sacrifices; and
they must all have been equally acceptable to God, as such. Which is
well known to be false. f23
Answ. 1. Who says, that proper Punishment was inflicted
on those Sacrifices? 2. Those Sacrifices were offered, that the Offender might
not die. 3. The Offering of those Sacrifices, as Mr. Taylor allows, did
discharge the Sinner from political Penalties: Let him prove, if he is
able, that, that Penalty was not Death. f24 Yet,
4. It is not pretended, that these Sacrificial Services were equally acceptable
to God, whether performed in Faith, or not.
3. Indeed, the Victim might, and, I suppose, did, represent
the Person who offered it; whatever was
done to that, was to be applied to himself. Then, observe, 1. As the Beast was
slain, surely, it signified to him, that he deferred to be slain, or to die for
his Sin. 2. It was Sin committed, or Guilt already contracted, on Account
whereof he offered Sacrifice. To shew him, adds he, the Demerit of
Sin in general; how he ought to slay the Brute in himself, and devote
his Life and Soul to God, etc. f25 — But this is very
remote from the Victim’s Suffering, in his Stead, the Death which be deserved
to die for his Sins, or Suffering a vicarious Punishment. f26 How
does this appear? He gives no Evidence of it. Hereby the Offender was
discharged from political Penalties, he grants; and that those Penalties
were not Death, he will never prove. — 1. The Death of the Beast was not, properly
speaking, Punishment. But, 2. That typically represented the vicarious
Punishment, which the Lamb of God was to bear, in order to make real,
spiritual Atonement for Sin. With him, vicarious Punishment is a
Contradiction in Terms. For as there cannot be a vicarious Guilt, or as
no one can be guilty in the Stead of another; so there cannot be a
vicarious Punishment, or no one can be punished instead of another. f27
Answ. 1. No one can contract Guilt instead of another. But, 2.
One may bear Guilt which is contracted, instead of another. And, 3. Suffer
Punishment in the Place of another. Because, says he, Punishment, in
its very Nature, connotes Guilt in the subject which bears it. f28
Answ. 1. Guilt is not an inherent Quality, but a Charge of
Sin, and an Obnoxiousness to Condemnation on that Account. 2. An innocent
Person may come under such a Charge, for it is not a Transfusion of a sinful
Action, or of the corrupt Habits of the guilty Person but only an Imputation of
his Sin, or Guilt. Thus, 3. He may bear it, though he becomes not the Subject
of Sin, as an inherent Quality.
4. He asks a very surprising Question, But is not vicarious
Punishment, or the Victim’s suffering Death in the Offender’s Stead, as an
Equivalent to Divine Justice, included in the Notion of Atonement? Answ.
No. f29 1. Why is this Query put? Did ever any Person think so? Is
it possible that a Man in his Sense can imagine, that the Death of a Brute, is
an Equivalent for Sin committed against God? But, 2. This is no Objection
unto an Equivalent being required and given, in order to real,
spiritual Remission. He seems to proceed as gravely to prove the
Negative, as if the Affirmative was believed and professed, whereas, I suppose,
it was never dreamt of, by any Man professing Christianity, in the World. But
some Men must be allowed solemnly to trifle, when, and where, they find
themselves unable to reason. He goes on to say,
(1). Atonement was made with the Scape-Goat, though he was not
slain. f30
Answ. 1. That belonged unto the Sacrifice,Leviticus 16:5.
2. The slain Goat typified the Sufferings of the Lamb of God. 3. The Scape-Goat
represented, in the same Manner, the Removal of Guilt, as the Effect, of
his Sufferings and Death.
(2). Says he, If the Offender was not able to bring a Lamb,
etc. — he was allowed to bring the tenth Part of an Ephah of fine Flour
for a Sin- Offering, etc. — Which could never suggest the Idea of
vicarious Punishment. f31
Answ. 1. This Exception
did not weaken, but strengthen the general Law. 2. Inasmuch as Bread
is the Staff of Life, the Burning of the Flour may well be thought to
represent to the Offender, that he deserved to die. And, 3. That, in order to real
spiritual Remission, a Life must be parted with. Farther, 4. Though this
Change was allowed because of the Poverty of the Offender, it follows not that
his Thoughts were to be taken off from the Sacrificing of an Animal for his
Sin, which, but for his Poverty, he stood obliged unto. 5. Nor did the
Shedding Blood, in itself, imply Atonement by vicarious Punishment. For it is never said, that Atonement was made for Sin
by, Peace-Offerings, etc. f32
Answ. 1. In legal
Sacrifices, proper Punishment was not inflicted. But, 2. Shedding of
Blood was fitly typical of taking away Life, in a Way of Punishment for
Sin. 3. Though in some Instances Blood might be shed, when Atonement was not
made for Sin, it is not to be concluded from thence, that Shedding Blood, in typical
Atonement, was not a Type of that vicarious Punishment, which Christ
the Anti-type was to bear. 6. — It is the Blood that maketh Atonement for the Soul.
But how? By Way of vicarious Punishment? Not a Word of that. f33
Answ. 1. That Atonement
was typical only. 2. Proper Punishment was not borne. Yet, 3. It
fitly represented Christ’s Shedding his Blood, in order to make spiritual Atonement.
III. Mr. Taylor proceeds unto an elaborate, but
very trifling Enquiry, into the Sense of Atonement. After a Collection
of all the Places in the Old Testament, where the Term expressing Atonement
is used, as a Verb and Noun, seemed good to him to employ himself
in examining into the Sense of the original Word, (rpk) where it is used without any Relation, unto the Offering
of Sacrifices, for Sin. Not to find out Truth, but to amuse and mislead his
Reader, and prevent his discerning what Atonement for Sin, by the Death of
Christ, includes in it. In this Labour he spends almost twenty Pages, wherein
it is entirely needless to follow him. If he had been disposed, as he ought, to
have learned what Atonement signifies, or contains in it, he might without any
Difficulty. For, 1. The Word, actively used, signifies to appease, pacify,
reconcile, or make Reconciliation (Genesis 32:20;Proverbs 16:14).
2. When used passively, it imports, that a Person is appealed, pacified, or
reconciled (Ezekiel 16:63). 3. As a Noun, it is taken for a Price, or
Ransom (Job 33:24). Hence, 4. When Atonement is made by a Price, or
Ransom, nothing is to be feared from the Party who was before displeased. And
there Things have Place in the Atonement made by Christ for our Sins. (1).
Guilt is covered or removed, and taken away out of the Sight of God, as a
Judge. (2). The Death of Christ is our (rpwk)
Atonement, or Ransom, and Price of Redemption, and nothing else. (3) God is
pacified towards us, for all that we have gone (Ezekiel 16:63), in
Consequence of his Sufferings and Death. And, therefore, (4). We have no
Reason, on this Foundation, to be afraid of his Terrors: For, being
justified by his Blood, we shall be saved from Wrath through him.
IV. Mr. Taylor makes some Reflections upon his long and
impertinent Examination of the Texts, wherein Atonement is mentioned. 1. Forgiveness of
Sin is Exemption from Punishment. — A Pardon
only in Thought or Word, and which effecteth nothing, as in Effect no Pardon at
all. f34 Very well said, this is true, and, therefore, the Death of
Christ procured our Exemption from Punishment, or Right to Impunity, and not an
Offer of Pardon, for an Offer of Remission is not Pardon. Truth will sometimes
out, when Men are very far from an Intention to express it.
2. The Means of making Atonement for Sin are not uniform,
etc. f35
Answ. 1. The Blood of
Christ is the only Mean, of spiritual Atonement for Sin. 2. Pardon of
Sin, in a spiritual Sense, is solely the Effect of his Blood- shedding
and Sacrifice. 3. We see the Reason why he asserted above, that Pardon only
in Thought or Word, etc. is no Pardon at all; it was to prove, that real,
spiritual Atonement for Sin might be, and was made, by other Means than
Christ’s Blood; because we read of Atonement, without Relation to that as the
Mean of it. But, 4. That Atonement was typical and allusive only:
That, by the Death of Christ is real, Spiritual, and eternal.
3. The giving an Equivalent to God, is no Ways included in
the Nation of Atonement. f36
Answ. 1. Giving an
Equivalent is not included in typical and allusive Atonement. I know
of none who think it was. 2. If any other Sacrifice than that of Christ had
been an Equivalent, his Sacrifice was unnecessary. 3. Though there was
not an Equivalent in typical Atonement, it follows not, that an Equivalent
was not given to the Law and Justice of God, in real, spiritual Atonement
for Sin.
4. The Transferring of Guilt doth not belong to the Sense of
Atonement. f37
Answ. As before, 1. Not
in Atonement typical and allusive. But, 2. In real, spiritual Atonement
it is found, as we have seen. 3. With equal Truth, he might say, that Exemption
from suffering eternal Punishment is not included in the Pardon of Sin, by the
Death of our Blessed Saviour. In this Branch of his Work, our Author makes a
great Shew of Labour and Diligence; but he could not have acted a more needless
and impertinent Part, than he hath done herein; and is as remote
from answering the End he had in View, as possibly he could be. For nothing he
offers, in the least Degree, affects the Doctrine of real, Spiritual Atonement
for Sin, by the Death of Christ, as an Equivalent given to the Law and
Justice of God, for our Transgressions.
CHAPTER
5 ¾
OF THE EFFECTS OF
CHRIST’S DEATH
I. CHRIST submitted unto Death, or gave his Life for us: This
is my Blood which is shed for many. I am the good Shepherd: The
good Shepherd giveth his Life for the Sheep. He loved the Church, and
gave himself for it. 2. Our Blessed Saviour died for us, considered
as Criminals. God commended his Love towards us, in that, while we were yet
Sinners, Christ died for us; he that was just, suffered for the unjust.
3. In Dying he was made a Curse for us. Christ hath redeemed us from the
Curse of the Law, being made a Curse for us. And, therefore, 4. His Death
was penal, and in our Stead. Mr. Taylor is guilty of two
Errors here: 1. He suggests, that Christ only died on our Account, and
not in our Place and Stead. 2. He insinuates, that the former of
these Scriptures, and others parallel to them, express the Benefit of
Atonement, f38 which they do not; but that glorious Mean whereby Atonement
was made. Herein he hath acted a Part beneath his Character, as a Scholar; for
it is below a Man of Learning to introduce the End of an Action, when the
Action is spoken of only.
II. Our Lord suffered for our Sins: Or our Sins were the meritorious
Cause of his Death. He was wounded for our Transgressions, and bruised
for Iniquities. He died for our Sins according go the Scriptures. He
was delivered for our Offences. For the Transgression of my People was
he stricken.
1. None can deny that these Modes of Speaking, are capable of
this Construction, without the least Force, that our Sins were the procuring
Cause of his Death. For, that Thought cannot be expressed more properly by any
Phrases, than it is by there. 2. Several Reasons may be offered to confirm this
Sense. (1). God made our Sins to meet in him. (2). He took our sin upon him.
(3). Bare it as a Burden in his own Body on the Tree. (4). In Dying, he became
a Sacrifice for Sin. (5). He was awfully bruised and put to Grief, by positive
Acts of God put forth upon him. (6). In no other View can our Pardon be an
Act of Righteousness, through his Death. (7). If Sin was not the procuring
Cause of his Death, in Dying he could not be made a Curse, which, as has been
before observed, he certainly was. (8). Unless this is allowed, we shall never
be able to account for the extreme Anguish our Saviour was in,
consistent with his Honour.
III. The final Cause of his Death, with Respect to Sin, was the
Pardon of it, and that End he obtained by it. This is my Blood of the New
Testament which is shed for many, for the Remission of Sins. In whom we
have Redemption through his Blood, viz. the Forgiveness of Sins, Having
obtained eternal Redemption for us. There was a Fitness in his Death to procure
the Remission of our Guilt. Because, 1. His Sufferings were penal; he
was made a Curse. 2. His Death had Merit in it equal to the Dignity of his
Person, which is infinite. For his Blood is the Blood of God. Pardon includes
in it a Non-imputation of Sin, Freedom from Condemnation, and Exemption from
suffering Punishment. The Death of Christ gives us a Right to neither of these,
in the Opinion of Mr. Taylor; Men have no Title to any saving Benefit,
in Virtue of the Sufferings of Christ, as he thinks. They have an Offer of
them, and no more, in Consequence of his Death. Right to Pardon they must:
obtain for themselves, or perish in their Sins. An Offer of Pardon is not
Pardon, nor gives Right to Remission; that must be acquired by the Sinner
himself, or else his Sins will never be forgiven. In this Place, Mr. Taylor endeavours
to confound the Ideas of Christ’s
Bearing Sin, and Bearing it
away. f39 He shall bear their Iniquities. He bare the Sin of many. Who his own Self bore
our Sins in his own Body on the Tree. There Scriptures express the
Imputation of our Guilt to him, and his Suffering that Penalty which it
demerited. And, his Sufferings being satisfactory, he bore our Guilt
away. Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the Sin of the World. Now,
once in the End of the World, hath he appeared to put away Sin by the Sacrifice
of himself. These Texts express the proper Effect of the Death of Christ,
as it was satisfactory for our Sins, viz. The Bearing away, or
Removal of our Guilt. But Mr. Taylor denies, that Christ bore our Sin,
or that he bore it away. Obtaining an Offer of Pardon for a Criminal, is not
the Removal of his Guilt, he very well knows. Nor is our Lord’s Death a Ransom
for us, or a Propitiation for our Sins, according to his Opinion.
For his Death neither redeemed our Persons from Misery, nor atoned for our
Crimes, as he thinks. Neither, does his Death deliver us from Wrath, or the
future Punishment of Sin. For that not the least Right unto an
Exemption, from suffering Penalty, arises from the Death of Christ to any
Sinner in the whole World, is that blessed Doctrine, which he would
force upon our Belief.
IV. Mr. Taylor represents the Death of Christ, as
the Cause of our Resurrection. f40 1. Some will be railed from
the State of Death, not to enjoy Happiness, but to endure eternal Misery, which
is not a Benefit. 2. Our Resurrection, merely, is not an Effect of the
Death of Christ. But, 3. Our Resurrection unto Life and a happy Immortality is
the proper Fruit thereof. 4. What he advances, in his Note on Romans 5:20,
is false, relating to our Law, which makes Felony Death, viz. that if a
Malefactor, who is executed, should come to Life again, he must suffer again, that
is to say, if he was really dead. For, in that Case, the Law would have
no Power over him; because he hath already suffered what the Law threatened for
his Offence. 4. He hath not proved, nor ever will prove, that, by Death in the
Divine Law, is intended Retaining the Body of the Transgressor in the Grave for
ever. 5. It is false, that the Saints under the Mosaic Dispensation
died under the Curse of the Law; which he asserts they did. f41 6.
Christ was not made a Curse by Hanging on the Tree, but in Suffering and
Dying; and his Hanging on the Tree is produced as an Evidence of it. 7. Nor
will this serve to explain Daniel 9:24. For ([çph) the Transgression, does not mean Adam’s first Sin,
which is called by the Apostle (paraptwma) Offence; but ([çp) the Transgression, or the whole Guilt of all those
for whom he suffered, Isaiah 53:8. 8. It is most false, that all nominal
Christians are not under the Law, but under Grace. f42 9.
He hath not proved, nor can prove, that Righteousness, in Romans 3:25,
intends pardoning Mercy. It is the Justice or Holiness of God that is
intended. 10. Reconciliation, is Freedom from an Obnoxiousness to Punishment,
in the Divine Account, or Peace with God through the Blood of Christ.
V. Another Effect, says
he, ascribed to Christ’s Sufferings and Death, is our Sanctification,
spiritual Healing, or Deliverance from the Power of sin. f43
1. Healing does not mean our Sanctification, in Isaiah 53:5,
but Freedom from Curse and Wrath. 2. Our Sanctification is a certain Effect
of the Death of Christ; but this he allows not. 3. Vain, in 1 Peter 1:18,
intends a sinful Conversation, whether Heathenish or not. In both
these Senses, as he delivers us from the Guilt and Tower of Sin, he may be said
to purge, wash, and cleanse us from Sin. f44 1. Mr. Taylor believes
not, that Christ delivers us from the Guilt of Sin. Nor, 2. From its Power. 3.
What he ascribes to our Saviour’s Death, he might as well attribute to his
Life. For his Birth and Life are as much a Cause of the Removal of our Guilt,
and of our Sanctification, as his Death is, according to the Principles of Mr. Taylor.
VI. The Honours and Happiness, says he, of the future State are another Effect of
Christ’s Atonement. f45
Answ. 1. It is true, that
our eternal Life is a real and certain Effect of the Death of
Christ. But, 2. He believes it not. For, 3. He thinks, that Christ’s Death
procured only an Offer, or conditional Grant of Life: Not a Right unto
it; that we are left to obtain for ourselves by our own Works, and, if we do
not, we must die eternally.
VII. and Lastly, says he,
all the Blessings of the new Covenant are in, or by his Blood. — The
Apostle argues at large, that, according to the Divine Constitution, the Death
of Christ was necessary to make valid, or to ratify the Covenant of Grace, Luke
22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25; Hebrews 10:29; Hebrews 9:15-19.
f46
Answ. 1. The new
Covenant is confirmed by the Blood of Christ. 2. All its Blessings are sure unto
all the Foederates. 3. They are not all, but some Men only. He adds, so far,
and in all these preceding Senses, Christ may be said to have purchased or
bought us with his Blood. f47
1. Christ’s Death was a Price of Redemption
which he gave unto God, as Lawgiver and Judge, for us. 2. Our Persons are his
Purchase, Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20. 3. It is false, that
Righteousness means Salvation, which he says it does, in 1 Corinthians
1:30. 4. He does not believe, that Christ is made Salvation unto us. For,
notwithstanding all he hath done and suffered for us, he did not procure
Salvation, but only an Offer or conditional Grant, which invests us with
no Right at all unto it; we are left to save ourselves by our own Works, and,
if we do not, we must eternally perish.
VIII. He tells us, That these Things are abundantly sufficient
to satisfy him of the following Particulars: f48
1. That Christ’s Blood was shed, etc. for us, on our
Account, to free us from some Evil, and to procure us some Benefit. f49
Answ. 1. Christ died in our Place and Stead, as
hath been before proved. 2. Let me enquire, what Evil the Death of our Lord
frees us from. Does it free us from a Charge of Sin? No. Is our Freedom from
Condemnation an Effect of his Death? No. Are we delivered from Divine Wrath and
Vengeance, by his Blood-shedding and Sacrifice? No. 3. What
Benefit did his Death procure for us? Did he, by Dying for us, obtain Grace to
sanctify our Hearts? No such Thing. Did he procure for us Grace to preserve us
in the Midst of our numerous Snares and Dangers, in this World, until we arrive
unto the heavenly State? No. Did he merit for us eternal Life and Blessedness?
No. What was it, then, that he did obtain by offering himself a Sacrifice for
us? Nothing at all, but an Offer of Pardon and Life. He hath left us to procure
for ourselves a Right to both, and, if we do not, we shall never have a Claim
to either.
2. That it was an Offering
and Sacrifice presented unto God, and really had its Effects with God, as
highly pleasing and grateful to him. f50
Answ. 1. Christ offered himself a Sacrifice for Sin, and,
therefore, he bore Sin and suffered Punishment. 2. I would enquire what those
Effects are, which the Death of Christ had with God. Does it cause God not to
impute Sin to us? No. He holds us guilty still. Does it cause him to deliver us
from Malediction? No. Does it cause him to deliver us from eternal Vengeance?
No. Something else must do that, or his fiery Indignation will devour us.
These Effects sink into a bare Offer of Pardon, upon the Terms of
Repentance and future Obedience. 3. And it was offered unto God for our Sins, in order to their
being
forgiven by him. — If the Redemption we have, through his Blood, be the
Forgiveness of Sins; then it is certain, that the Shedding of his Blood
had its Effect with God, as it supplied such a Reason for the Forgiveness of
Sins, as the Wisdom and Goodness of God, our Saviour, thought most proper and
expedient, and without which he did not think it proper or expedient to forgive
them. f51
Answ. 1. He allows not,
that Forgiveness of Sin is obtained by the Blood of Christ, though he thus
speaks. If Pardon is the proper Effect of Christ’s Death, then Right to
Remission must result therefrom; but this he will deny. 2. Permit me to ask,
Why the Death of Christ is a Reason with God for the Forgiving of Sin? Is it
because his Mercy to Sinners is greater, and more illustrious in pardoning
them, upon that Condition, previously required of Christ? Not at all. Was his
Indignation against Sin, or his vindictive Displeasure with it,
manifested in the Affair of Christ’s Death? No. For the Holiness and Justice of
God had no more Concern in the Business of Christ’s Sufferings, than if Sin had
never been committed, or were never to be pardoned. God might have pardoned
Sin, and saved Sinners, with full as much Honour to himself, without the Death
of Christ, as he can with it. But, perhaps, this Mean of Pardon might be proper
and expedient, in Relation unto Men, I proceed, therefore, with my
Enquiry, and ask, Would it not have been fit and proper to pardon
Sin, on the Terms of Repentance and future Obedience, if Christ had not died?
Or does the Death of Christ constitute that Fitness? No, by no Means. Does the
Death of Christ effect these Terms on which it is proper and expedient to
forgive Sin? No more than his Birth or Life, or his making Clay to cure a Man
of Blindness with it. Does his Death render these Terms more easy to Men? No
more than his Exaltation to Dignity in Heaven. Men might with the same Ease
have repented of their Sins, and yielded Obedience unto God, if Christ had not
died; for his Death procured no Grace from God to bring them to
Repentance, and to influence them unto Obedience, as Mr. Taylor thinks.
It is somewhat strange, that Men can possibly be grave, in speaking of
the Death of Christ, as a proper and fit Expedient of the Remission of
Sin, whose Principles lead them to assert these Things, and that they can
expect to be believed, in their Assertions, by any Christian in the World.
4. He offered one Sacrifice for Sins; — nobody can doubt, but the Jewish Sacrifices,
in those Cases wherein they were admitted, did obtain the Pardon of Sin in some
Degree or other. It must therefore be true, that the Sacrifice of our
Lord did obtain the Forgiveness of our Sins, as the Wisdom of God judged it the
fittest Method of granting the Remission of them, and that it is with Respect
to his Sacrifice that our Sins are forgiven, whenever they are forgiven. f52
1. It was not Pardon in a Spiritual
Sense, which the Levitical Sacrifices obtained; it was not possible
that they should procure Remission of Sin in that Sense. 2. They did obtain
Pardon in a political and typical Sense, which was an Exemption from
suffering Penalty, and not an Offer of Remission. 3. The anniversary Sacrifice
was typical of Atonement made for all Sin, that is pardoned unto Men. 4.
The Blood and Sacrifice of Christ procured not a bare conditional Grant,
or Offer of Forgiveness; but a Right to spiritual Remission, or unto an
Exemption from deferred Punishment. And, 5. The Virtue and Efficacy of his
Death extends unto all the Sins of all the Persons for whom he suffered. The
Blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all Sin. 6. When Mr. Taylor
says it is with Respect to his Sacrifice, that our Sins are forgiven,
whenever they are forgiven: He means not, that Christ’s Death merited our
Pardon: Or that any Right to Remission was procured by his Sacrifice: Or that
God is in any Sense or Degree more honoured in this Way of Remission, than he
would have been without the Offering of that Sacrifice: Or that Christ would
have sustained the least Injury, if no Sinner, for whom he died, had
ever been pardoned and saved. For, the utmost he was to expect, as a Reward for
his dolorous Sufferings, and bloody Death, in Relation to the
Pardon of Sin, was a Declaration from God, that he would forgive Men their
Sins, in Case they took Care to acquire for themselves a Right to Impunity, by
doing what he intended to enjoin upon them, with that View, or unto that End.
5. If God of his own mere Grace had pardoned Sin, says he, without any Respect to the Offering of Christ,
there would have been no Occasion at all, that Christ should have offered
himself a Sacrifice for the Remission of them. f53
1. If the Death of Christ was
not needful, as a Punishment for Sin, it could not be needful as mere Suffering,
in order to the Remission of it. If the Righteousness and Justice of God did
not require the Death of Christ, as a Penalty due to Sin, which was to
be forgiven in Consequence of his Death, it did not require his Death, considered
merely as Suffering, to that End. If his Death was needful to our
Pardon, it must be, because there is some Fitness in it, why Remission
should be extended unto us on that Foundation. Now, there is no Fitness in
the mere Sufferings of an innocent Person, however great those
Sufferings are, why Criminals should go unpunished. The Decree of the Death of
Christ, therefore, must be merely arbitrary, and it is what God might
have willed, without the leapt Intention of pardoning Sin, if it had so pleased
him. 2. If there was no Fitness in the
Death of our Blessed Saviour to
procure Remission of Sin, there could be no Fitness therein to obtain a
Declaration or Promise from God, that he would forgive it. This Socinian, nor
any other, will ever be able to shew, that there was the least Degree of Fitness
in the Death of Christ: to obtain for us either an Offer of Forgiveness, or
a Right unto Impunity, upon their Principles. No Fitness can possibly be
in it to attain either of these Ends, but considered, and as it really was,
penal. 3. It is fit and proper to forgive Offenders, Justice
requires it, if an innocent Person is allowed to take their Place, and
suffer Penalty in their Stead. And this is the Fact in this Case. 4. If
it is said, that this is not to be allowed of; I grant it is not among Men.
Neither, 5. Is it allowable for Men to require an innocent Person to suffer any
bodily Pains, much less Death, as a Condition of Pardon to the Guilty. 6. If it
is said, that God proceeded in this Affair, merely on the Ground of his absolute
Dominion and Sovereignty, or without Respect to Justice, then it
must be granted, that the Death of our Lord had no Fitness in it to
procure either a Declaration and Promise to forgive Sin, on certain Conditions,
or Remission itself. God might have willed his Death, if Sin had never entered
into the World, and without any Design of pardoning Sin, or of saving one
Sinner.
IX. I conclude, therefore, says
he, that the Sacrifice of Christ was truly, and properly, in the highest
Degree, and far beyond any, other, PIACULAR and EXPIATORY, to make Atonement
for, or to take away Sin. Not only to give us an Example; not
only to assure us of Remission; or to procure our Lord a Commission to
publish the Forgiveness of Sins; Out moreover to obtain that
Forgiveness, by doing what God in his Wisdom and Goodness judged fit and
expedient to be done, in order to the Forgiveness of Sin; and without
which he did not think it fit or expedient to grant the Forgiveness of Sin.
f54
Answ. 1. Christ did not
bear sin, as he thinks. 2. Nor suffer Punishment. Nor, 3. Make Satisfaction for
Sin. And, therefore, (1). He did not bear away Sin, or remove our Guilt. Nor,
(2). Obtain the Forgiveness of Sin. Neither, (3). Answer any Demand of the
Law and Justice of God for our Sin. Consequently, (4). The Death of Christ was
no more than a Condition or Cause, (sine qua non) without which God
would not pardon our Crimes, not on Account of any Fitness therein to procure
Remission for us; but he willed his Death, unto that End, because it was his
Pleasure; and to make a Shew of great Kindness to us, in delivering him
up to Death; whereas, in Fact, there was not any at all. For there was, it
seems, no Fitness in his Death to bring Glory to him, in pardoning Sin,
nor to procure the Benefit of Remission for us. If there was a Fitness in
his Death to obtain that great End, Delivering him up to Death for us would
justly be considered, as an amazing Act of Kindness, Grace, and Mercy;
but, as this is absolutely denied, the Transaction of his Sufferings,
was merely arbitrary, and without any Reason, other than the absolute
Will of God; without the least Necessity, either in Respect to his own
Glory, or our Good and Happiness. And, therefore, this Language is only
calculated to deceive and impose upon us, of which the Author cannot be
insensible. For which Reason it justly deserves a severe Censure. He
presents us with a piacular and expiatory Sacrifice, without Sin
being borne, or the least Degree of Penalty suffered by him, who became that
Sacrifice; and he pretends, that Atonement is made for our Sins; but the Charge
of our Guilt still lies upon us, we are as much as ever obnoxious, before God,
to Condemnation, and full as liable to suffer eternal Vengeance, as if that
Sacrifice had not been offered, and shall as certainly descend to Hell, if we
do not procure for ourselves a Right to Impunity and Life, by our own Works, as
if our Saviour had not suffered. The Effect of Christ’s Death is only a conditional
Grant of Pardon; the Removal of our Guilt, and our Right to Impunity, are
the proper Effects of our Repentance and future Obedience. Our Repentance and
Reformation are of infinitely greater Value than the Death of Christ,
for that only availed to obtain a Declaration, or Promise from God to pardon
Sin but they have a Fitness in them to procure Remission itself,
according to the Principles of this Author.
CHAPTER
6 ¾
OF THE EFFICACY OF
CHRIST’S DEATH
MR. Taylor,
in his Ninth Chapter, corrects our Mistakes about the Efficacy of the Death
of Christ.
I. The Design of it could not be to make God merciful; or to dispose him to spare and pardon us, when, as
some suppose, so great was his Wrath, that, had not Christ interposed, he would
have destroyed us. This is directly contrary to the most plain and
certain Notions of Divine Goodness, and to the whole Current of Revelation;
which always assures us, that the pure Love of God to a sinful World, was
the first Mover and original Spring of the Whole of our Redemption by Christ, John
3:16. All that Christ did and suffered, was by the Will and Appointment of
God: And was conducive to our Redemption, only in Virtue of his Will and
Appointment, >Hebrews 10:7; John 5:30- John 6:27-38. f55
Answ. 1. None suppose,
that the Design of the Death of Christ was to make God merciful, or to procure
a Disposition and Will in God to shew us Mercy. 2. He does not seem to
understand what Divine Anger against Sin and Sinners is; it is not a Passion,
but a holy Displeasure with both, necessarily arising from the infinite
Purity of his Nature. God can no more suffer Sin to go unpunished, than he can
disapprove of and neglect Innocence. As he necessarily loves Holiness, so he
necessarily hates Sin, and his Will to punish it is necessary, though free; if
it was not, he might decree to permit his Creatures to sin against him
eternally, without suffering Punishment. 3. Infinite Love to poor Sinners
provided and gave Christ to be a Saviour to them, as the whole Gospel
testifies, with this infinitely wise Purpose, that Divine Resentment against
Sin might be fully manifested, as well as the Glory of rich Grace be displayed,
in their Remission. God set forth his Son to be a Propitiation, to declare
his Righteousness. 4. Those Notions which Men entertain, and please
themselves with, of the Exercise of Divine Goodness towards guilty Creatures,
without a proper Provision for the Glory of Divine Justice, are mere Dreams,
and infinitely dishonourable to God. 5. It is most false, that all that
Christ did and suffered was conducive to our Redemption, only in Virtue of
God’s Will and Appointment. (1). If this is true, then there was no Fitness in
the Death of Christ to obtain the Pardon of sin, any more than there is in the
Death of a Brute. Then, (2). This was not a wise Constitution. Wisdom
would chuse a moral Mean that hath a Fitness in it to attain the
End disigned. (3). Then God might have willed the Death of Christ without any
Intention to pardon Sin and save Sinners. For, if there is no Fitness in
his Death to procure Remission, God certainly might have decreed his Death,
without appointing it to be so much as a Condition, or Cause, (sine qua non)
of the remission of our Sins. And who knows but he did? (4). The Scriptures he
refers unto, do not in the least suggest this. They express, that what Christ
did was the Will of God; but are far from giving any Hint, that the Virtue and
Efficacy of what he did, or suffered, is owing unto the Will and Appointment of
God. To scruple the Uprightness of the Author in the Interpretation of
Scripture, probably, might displease him; but he must excuse me, that being
allowed in his Favour, if I shall say, that his Ability for this Service is far
below that of a common Reader.
II. Nor can it be true, that by his Sufferings he satisfied
Justice, or the Law of God. For it is
very certain, and very evident, that Justice and Law can no otherwise be
satisfied, than by the just and legal Punishment of the Offender. — Law
in its own Nature must always condemn the Criminal; and Justice, acting
according to Law, must precisely inflict the Punishment. In the Margin he
says, by Justice, in this Case, is not meant Justice, as it is an Attribute
in God, or that Branch of his moral Rectitude, which we call Righteousness;
but Justice stinted and directed by Law commanding Duty, and denouncing
Penalty in Case of Transgression. Here, therefore, Justice and Law come
to the same Thing; only Law is the Rule, and Justice is Acting according
to, or the Execution of that Rule. f56
Answ. 1. It is the Holiness and Righteousness of God, which
wills Good to be done, and Evil to be avoided, and which ordains that Sin shall
expose the Creature to, or bring him under an Obnoxiousness unto Penalty. 2.
Law is the Expression of the Divine Will in all these Respects, or the
Constitution of Divine Righteousness. The Law, therefore, springs from Justice
and Holiness: Or, it is Justice, which gives Being to the Law, and not the Law
which gives Being to Justice. 3. Is Justice, which is stinted and directed by
Law, something in God? If it is, then it must be either a Divine Purpose or
Perfection. It cannot be a Purpose or Decree of God, because God must then
immutably will the Destruction of a Sinner; neither can it be any Divine
Perfection, because, then, God would not be at Liberty to act towards any
Criminal, otherwise than the Law directs, and the Salvation of
a Sinner must be absolutely
impossible. And, therefore, 4. Justice must mean something out of God, and
what that is, Mr. Taylor knows not, nor can declare. It is a Non-ens,
there can be no such Thing. 5. God necessarily, though freely, wills to
punish Sin. 6. It is Matter of Liberty and free Choice with him either to
punish Sin in the Offender, or in a Surety, who agrees to bear his Sin and
fuller its Demerit. 7. The Infliction of Penalty on the Sinner’s Sponsor, is
the Execution of Justice on, or against Sin; and his Sufferings, if they have a
Sufficiency of Worth in them, arising from his personal Dignity, are
satisfactory both to Law and Justice. And such were the Sufferings of our
Saviour, who is God as well as Man. 8. Unless these Things are granted, we must
deny that the Rectitude and Righteousness of the Nature of God is exercised and
displayed, in punishing Sinners themselves, or in pardoning and saving them by
Jesus Christ. There is no Discovery of the Holiness of God, in the most
wonderful of all his Works, if Sinners are pardoned and saved, without Regard
to Justice and the Law in their Redemption.
III. Nor will the Notion of Christ’s Dying in our Stead, Paying
an Equivalent, or Suffering a vicarious Punishment, bear the Test of Scripture
or Reason. Because this Notion never
enters into the Notion of Atonement by Sacrifice. f57
Answ. 1. It is freely
granted, that there was no Equivalent in legal Sacrifices. 2.
They could not, nor were intended to take away Sin, in a spiritual Sense.
3. The Death of Christ was designed to that great End, and it had a Fitness in
it to answer that important and glorious End. 4. The Author with equal
Truth might say, that the Notion of Christ’s taking away Sin, in a spiritual
Sense, will not bear the Test of Scripture; because that Notion
never enters into the Notion of Atonement by Sacrifice. As the Death of Christ
effected that which legal Sacrifices could not effect: So there was that
in his Death, which was not in any or all of them, viz. a Fitness to
take away Sin. If we are not to limit our Notions of the Efficacy of the Death
of our Saviour, by that Virtue which attended those Sacrifices; neither must we
limit our Nations of the Value of his Sufferings, by that Worth which was found
in them. In those Sacrifices there was no Fitness to take away Sin: In
the Sacrifice of Christ there was such a Fitness. And in them there was
not an Equivalent to make Compensation for Guilt; but in the Death of
Christ there was an Equivalent, and it was satisfactory to the
Justice and Law of God.
2. Law and Justice can never admit of one Man’s Dying in the
Stead of another, or of his Suffering the Punishment, which in Law and Justice
is due to the Offender only. f58
Answ. 1. The Whole is
granted, as to Men. But, 2. Surely God may do that which Men may not. He had
Power over the innocent Jesus, and might will, that he should bear our
Sin, and suffer for it. Christ had Power over himself to put himself in
our Place, to take upon him our Guilt, and to consent unto the Suffering
Punishment for us. His Father’s Will was, that he should, and he voluntarily
agreed so to do, and hath received an ample and satisfactory Reward of the
Father, for this his Submission unto his holy, sovereign Will. And, therefore,
there is no Injustice in this Procedure, Here was no Exercise of unlawful Power
in God: No Violence offered to our Saviour, nor was his Consent required unto
that, which he had not a proper Right to comply with. For he had Power to
lay down his Life, and Power to take it again. Nor is that Reward with-held
from him, which it was fit he should receive upon accomplishing the Will
of the Father, in this wonderful Affair.
3. Punishment may be considered as just and fitting; but I cannot conceive how it should be a Sacrifice
of a Sweet-smelling Savour, <490502>Ephesians 5:2, pleasing
and grateful unto God – much less such unequitable Punishment. f59
Answ. 1. He seems to grant,
that Punishment, i.e. for Sin, is just and fitting; but I am
apprehensive, that he will not abide by this Grant, in Favour of our
Principles; because, it stabs his own to the Heart. If Punishment for
Sin is just and fitting, it becomes God to inflict it, and not
suffer Sin to go unpunished. Nor, indeed, can he, for he can no more omit to do
that, which is just and fit to be done, than he is able to
deny himself. 2. His Want of Capacity to discern the Nature of heavenly
Mysteries is not the least Objection to their Truth, though he is, it seems, a
Master in Israel. 3. The Sacrifice of Christ was pleasing to God, not
considered, merely, as he, in Offering of himself, suffered Penalty; but as he
so did, with a holy Submission to his Will, with a View to his Glory, and the
Salvation of his People. 4. Because there was that Value in the Sacrifice of
Christ, resulting from the infinite Dignity of his Person, as the Father’s
Equal, which renders it fit to answer all the glorious Ends of his eternal
Love, infinite Wisdom, and inflexible Justice, in the Business of our
Salvation. 5. This was not unequitable Punishment, for it was on Account
of, and for Sin, And God had Power to will, that Christ should bear our Guilt,
and undergo those Sufferings which we were liable unto, as Sinners. Christ took
our Guilt upon himself, and freely consented to endure those Penalties, which
were due unto us.
4. Vicarious Punishment or Suffering, (in which, upon this Scheme the Efficacy of Christ’s
Death for the Remission of Sin solely consists) gives us too low Ideas
of the Sufferings of the Son of God, as it sinks them to the Pain and
Sufferings of a Malefactor, the very meanest Idea we can have of them. He
suffered, as if he had been the Criminal, the Pain and Punishment, which we, or
equivalent to that which we, the real Criminals, should have suffered; or
he was executed by the Hand of Justice in our Stead. A Representation
quite too low and insipid, for an Affair concerted in the Council of God, and
accomplished by his only begotten Son. f60
Answ. 1. As it was in
the primitive Age of the Christian Church, so it is now, in Respect to
the Doctrine of the Cross. The Reason of which is clear, the deep Things of
God are what they always were, and the Nature of Man is still the same;
and, therefore, we need not wonder, if we hear some Men pronounce them low,
mean, and insipid. I confess, that this is, in my Opinion, a very corroborating
Proof of the Divine Verity of our Principles. If heavenly Mysteries retain
their own Nature, and Men continue to be what they formerly were, we must
expect them to express the same Language, concerning those Mysteries, which
others have done before them. 2. Our Blessed Saviour, in himself, was innocent,
or holy, harmless, and undefiled, and he was so reputed, or no otherwise
considered, as in himself. 3. It was no Dishonour to Christ to bear our Guilt,
and suffer that Punishment in our Stead, whereunto we were obnoxious, in
Obedience to the Will of the Father; except it may be deemed a mean Thing in
Christ to magnify the Divine Law and make it honourable; and to glorify
his Father, in all his infinite Perfections, by accomplishing a Design,
wherein, above all others, the Glory of his Grace, and Mercy, Wisdom, Holiness,
and Justice illustriously shines. 4. I am under no Surprize at all at this
Author’s boldly Asserting, that this was an Affair too low and insipid to
be concerted in the Council of God, and accomplished by his only begotten Son.
For it is no Wonder to me, that some Sort of Persons dare to affirm, that the
Wisdom of God is FOLLY. I wish them to consider, that, if our Gospel be
hid, it is hid to them that are LOST: And that those, to whom the
Doctrine of the Cross is Foolishness, PERISH.
5. This Notion, as it includes the Imputation of our Sins to
Christ, and of his Righteousness, or Fulfilling of the Law, to us, supplies,
Consequences very hurtful to Piety and Virtue: And some Christians have actually drawn such Consequences from it.
f61
Answ. This is a false
Charge, and is mere Calumny. For, 1. The Imputation of our Sins to
Christ, in order to his suffering Punishment, that we might be pardoned and
saved in a Way becoming all the Perfections of God, shews us clearly the
Malignity of Sin, how hateful it is to God, and is a most persuasive Motive to
excite us to forsake every Evil. 2. The Imputation of the Righteousness of
Christ to us, and our Justification in the Sight of God, by Virtue of it, is a
glorious Instance of rich Grace and Mercy, and is a full Evidence that such is
the infinite Purity of the Nature of God, that he cannot justify a Sinner, as
considered in himself; which influences us to adore his Kindness and
Compassion to us in Misery, and to loath ourselves on Account of our
Imperfections and Sins. 3. This Doctrine by no Means infers, that we may enjoy
future Happiness without present Holiness. A Title to eternal Life renders not
a Meetness for it unnecessary. 4. Justification by the Righteousness of
Christ dissolves not our Obligation to Duty. For, though we are not under the
Law, as a Covenant, to obtain Life by our Obedience to it, yet we are as much
as ever, and in its full Extent, under it, in its Precepts. 5. Those Men
who approve of Duty, only as the Reward of Life may be expected of God,
for their Attendance to it, whatever they think of themselves, I am bold to
affirm, have not a Dram of Holiness in them. 6. They are not Christians
who turn the Grace of God into Lasciviousness: Or who draw Consequences
from this Doctrine hurtful to Piety and Virtue, though Mr. Taylor is
pleased to call them so. God forbid, that we should ever esteem them
Christians, who can dare to sin, that his Grace may abound. Nothing
more contrary to Christianity can be conceived, than that dreadful Impiety is.
7. Some Men, even now, give sad Evidence, what blasphemous Thoughts,
concerning the Holiness, Justice, and Grace of God, will spring up in their cursed
Minds, when they will justly suffer his dreadful, but righteous Vengeance,
for their Crimes. He adds, 6. That the Preposition uper, when applied
to Christ’s Dying for us, doth not signify in the Place or Stead of, I have
shewn in my Paraphrase upon the Romans, in
the Note upon Chap. 5:7. Nor doth the Preposition anti, imply that Sense in those Texts, <402028>Matthew 20:28. Lutron anti pollwn, a Ransom for
many, <540206>1 Timothy 2:6. Antilutron uper pantwn, a Ransom
for all. Anti, indeed, doth signify, in the Place or Stead of, in such
Phrases as these, Life for Life, Tooth for
Tooth, by Way of Retaliation, or just Punishment. But, that it also
signifies for, on Account of, for the Sake of, in Favour of, will appear to any
one who consults a good Lexicon. [See>Ephesians 5:31;
Hebrews 12:2; Matthew 17:27.] And, therefore, in such Phrases as luron anti yuchv, where Redemption or Ransom is spoken of, it may
signify, and I conceive doth signify, no more than a Ransom for, or on Account
of Life, to preserve it from being destroyed. And in this Sense our Lord
may very properly be said to give himself a Ransom for all, i.e. to redeem them
from Death, or to atone for those Lives which we had
forfeited: Which is the true Sense of the Place. f62
Answ. 1. We allow, that
the Preposition (uper) for, frequently signifies on Account of, or for the Sake
of, or in Behalf of. 2. That it is used to express Substitution, or in Stead
of, cannot be denied, and Socinus himself, allows that it is so used. This
is its Sense, in these Texts, (ina uper sou diakonh moi) that
in thy Stead he might minister unto me (Philemon 1:13). (Deomeqa uper Cristou) we pray you in Christ’s Stead (2
Corinthians 5:20). 3. And this must be the Sense of it, in these Words,
(genomenov uper hmwn
katara) being made a Curse for us (Galatians
3:13), which cannot be denied, without directly contradicting the
Apostle, and saying, Christ was not made a Curse. 4. Our Saviour was made Sin,
he died for us, considered as Sinners, and on that Account obnoxious to Death.
He died for our Sins. He was delivered for our Offences. His Death is
our Ransom or Price of Redemption. And by it he obtained
eternal Redemption for us. Which Things fully evince, that he was our Substitute,
and suffered in our Stead. 5. Christ did not hazard, but lay
down, or actually resign his Life for us. The Author’s Paraphrase and
Note, therefore, are a bold Corruption of the Text, as the Reader, if he
pleases, may see (Romans 5:7). And with Respect unto the Preposition (anti)
for, 1. I grant that, it is sometimes used, when Substitution is not
intended, as when it is put to express Opposition. But, 2. He very well knows,
that it properly expresses Substitution, and signifies in the Place and
Stead of. In this Sense the Septuagint use it a great many Times.
f63 3. Christ gave his Life, as a Ransom, or Price of
Redemption, unto God, our righteous Judge, for us, and, therefore, he died
in our Stead, or suffered in our Place. 4. I dare say, that our Author
cannot express Substitution, in Language more proper, than in
that which is used in Relation unto the Death of Christ for us. And, therefore,
5. He ought to assign some very cogent Reasons, for his explaining away
that Sense, in Respect unto the Affair of Christ’s Death. But, as to Reasons
for it, he has none, only his Dislike, that God should fix upon such a
Method to glorify himself, in the Salvation of Sinners. A Method it is
infinitely wise, for herein God displays the immense Riches of his Grace
towards our Persons, and his infinite Abhorrence of, and Detestation against
our sins. And this is that which such Sort of Men, as our Author is,
cannot patiently bear with. If the Almighty will not save Sinners without
taking Vengeance on Sin, or without a Regard to the Honour of his Law and
Justice; this Sort of Men, will dare to reproach him to his Face, and
pronounce his wise Procedures mean, low, insipid, and unworthy, and yet
pretend unto great Uprightness and Sincerity at the same Time.
CHAPTER
7 ¾
OF SANCTIFICATION,
AS A FRUIT OF CHRIST’S DEATH, ETC.
MR. Taylor having, as
he thinks, entirely demolished the Doctrine of Satisfaction for Sin, by the
Death of Christ: He proceeds to discourse concerning his Sufferings, as a Mean
of our Sanctification, and, in that View, as a Condition, or Reason with God,
of our Remission. Wherein, I confers, he is very rhetorical. His Ideas
are infinitely below the Sublimity and Grandeur of the Subject,
but his Expressions are lofty and very florid. The intelligent Reader
will easily perceive this material Difference between the Divine Writers
and our Author on this Topic. They convey noble Sentiments, in
Language suited to the Nature of the glorious subject; Mr. Taylor presents
us with low Thoughts, in a pompous Dress. A few brief Remarks, on
this Part of his Performance, will sufficiently discover, that it may justly be
said to him, Thou art (Vox, and praeterea nihil) Words, and
nothing else. I am no Enemy to Rhetoric, nor would I detract from
the due Praises of any Excellency, which I am not capable of imitating. But, if
Rhetoric is not animated by Logic, or sound Reasoning, and good
Sense, as the Soul of it, I esteem it no other than a pretty Jingle, calculated
to please less discerning Minds. A glib Tongue and a flowing Pen,
not directed by a good Understanding, in my Opinion, are Accomplishment not
much to be admired.
I. He speaks of the Dignity of the Person of our Saviour: And
says, When I consider, that a Person of so transcendent Eminence and
Excellency, who was in the Form of God, and in the highest Degree of Glory and
Felicity with the supreme Father; of such Wisdom and Power, that by him
he made the Worlds; of such Splendor and Majesty, that he was the
Brightness of God’s Glory, and the express Image of his Person, etc. f64
But in order to prevent our
entertaining an Opinion, infinitely too high, of the personal Dignity of
Christ: Or lest we should imagine, that he is the Father’s Equal; he attempts
to obscure that illustrious Testimony to the important Truth of our Lord’s
Equality with him: Who, being in the Form of God, thought it not Robbery to
be equal with God (Philippians 2:6), i.e. as he says, like
to God. And in the Margin he observes, that the Phrase, (to einai isa Qew) to be equal with God, is the same as (ISA QEW), (Isoqeov), (Qeov wv) like God, or as God, and answers to the Hebrew
(µyjlak) Zechariah 12:8. The House of David shall
be as God. To which I answer, as a learned Author does, that, with
the Greeks, (to
einai junctum isa),
is most significant. Perfect Equality cannot be more fully expressed,
than it is by that Phrase. f65
The Instances, with which he would make it
parallel, express Likeness, but this Equality. Mr. Taylor paraphrases:
He did not regard the Dignity and Glory, which he had with the Father, as
Soldiers do the Spoil and Plunder, which they take by Force, and resolutely
hold against all the World. f66
Answ. 1. The Apostle
says, Christ did not think, esteem, or account it Spoil. Mr. Taylor says,
he did not regard it, that is, he did not forcibly hold it, as
Soldiers do their Plunder, between which the Difference is as wide, as it
can be. 2. The Apostle, in this Phrase, asserts the Dignity of our Saviour. Mr.
Taylor interprets it of his Condescension, which is as directly contrary
to the Intention of the sacred Writer, as any Thing can be. In his Notes on
Romans 9:5, he first observes, that the Power delegated to Christ by the
Father, over all Things, is his supreme Godhead. Not content with that depraved
Interpretation of the Phrase: Who is over all, God blessed for ever:
He ventures at a bold Corruption of the Text. It seems what this Part of
Christ’s Character, has to do with the Jews, is not to him very clear.
Nor, can he conceive, why the Apostle neglected to mention, in this Place,
the Jews Relation to God, as their God. How could he overlook the
main Article in this List, i.e. of their Privileges? In order to
supply this Defect, and to wrest the Words from our Saviour of whom they are
spoken, he delivers this Conjecture, that there is a Transposition in the Text,
viz. thus, (o
wn for wn o) i.e. who is, for whose
is, and so he applies the Phrase to the Father: Whose is the God over
all. Thus, says he, the grand Privilege will be inserted to Advantage,
and stand at the Top of a lofty Climax, rising from the FATHERS, to CHRIST, to
GOD. Probably, our Author may be much pleased with this ingenious
Conjecture of his; since he fancies, that it throws such admirable Beauty
on the Apostle’s Discourse. But it falls out very unhappily for him, that this
grand Privilege is the first mentioned, the Apostle begins with it in the 4th
Verse: To whom pertaineth the Adoption, which is expressive of the Jews
Relation unto God. And, Mr. Taylor discerned this, when he wrote his
Paraphrase, for in that he thus speaks on the Words: Dignified with the
Character of the Sons and First-born of God, (Exodus 4:22; Jeremiah
31:9; Hosea 11:1). We must, therefore, conclude, that he had forgot
his Paraphrase, when he wrote his Notes. If that had occurred to his Thoughts,
it would have prevented him assigning this Reason for his bold and daring Corruption
of the Text. Again, it is absurd to suppose, that a limited and precarious
Being is the Brightness of the Father’s Glory, and the express Image, or
Character, of his Person. It would not be so far from Truth to say that a Glow-worm,
is the Brightness of the Sun’s Splendor, and the Character of
his dazzling Rays. I am bold to affirm, that God is not capable of giving
Existence to a Creature, unto whom those Things are properly applicable. God is
eternal, all-knowing, all-wise, almighty, supremely good, absolutely immutable,
etc. No voluntary Production is eternal, unlimited in Knowledge, Wisdom,
Goodness, Power, or immutable, nor can be in its Nature, yea, it may cease to
be at all. And such a Being Mr. Taylor thinks Christ is. Besides,
Creation is not a Work of almighty Power, if it was effected by the Agency of
such a Being as Mr. Taylor imagines our Saviour is. The Fact is
undoubtedly this: Either Creation was wrought by the Power and Wisdom which reside
in the Father: Or by the Power and Wisdom which reside in Christ: If
by that Wisdom and Power which reside in the Father; then the Wisdom and Power,
which reside in Christ had no more Efficiency, in the Production of all
Things, than the Wisdom and Power of Mr. Taylor had. And, if the
Creation was effected by the Wisdom and Power which reside in Christ,
that is not a Work of infinite Wisdom and Omnipotence, but it is the Effect of
finite Wisdom and limited Power. The old Philosophers were not greater Fools,
who professed themselves to be wise, than those among us are, who
reject evangelical Mysteries; for they advance most evident Absurdities.
God cannot give a Sufficiency of Wisdom and Power to any Being whatever, to
create a World; the Reason is as clear as the Sun. Infinity is not communicable;
if it was, God might produce his Equal, which he can no more do, than he can
become finite. I am sure, I say nothing here, but what agrees with the peerless
and incomprehensible Perfections of my almighty Creator; and I
express these Things, with a View to vindicate his Glory, to assert the true
Dignity of Christ, and to expose the Stupidity of Arianism, which
at this Time is greatly spreading amongst us, with all other detestable Errors.
For my Part, I am fully resolved never to own any Person whatever, as my
Saviour, who is finite in his Nature, mutable in his Being, precarious,
and may cease to be; such a God Mr. Taylor would fain
persuade us to believe Christ is. Those may so do, who imagine, that infinite
Wisdom, Power, Merit, and Compassion are not Requisites in a Saviour, and
who can be content to trust in themselves, and their own Obedience, for Pardon
and Acceptation with God in Judgment. From which I pray the good Lord, of his
Mercy, eternally to deliver my poor perishing Soul.
II. Mr. Taylor observes, that God’s granting
Remission of Sin, through the Blood of Christ, is the properest Way to affect
our Minds with the Malignity of Sin, and to shew us how odious and detestable
all Sin is to God. f67
Answ. 1. He allows not,
that God does grant us Remission of Sin, through Christ’s Blood, though he thus
speaks. For, his Opinion is, that the Death of Christ procured only a
Declaration or Promise from God to pardon Sin; and that we must, by our own
Works, acquire a Right to Remission. 2. If the malign, odious, and detestable
Nature of Sin is seen, in God’s requiring the Death of Christ, only as a
Condition of giving a Promise to pardon; it is infinitely more discovered, in
the Infliction of proper Punishment, for Sin, on Christ in Dying; and,
therefore, our Opinion of the penal Nature of his Death,
according to his own Reasoning, bids much fairer for Truth, than that which he
advances does. If it is an Instance of Divine Wisdom to pardon Sin in such a
Way, as the Malignity, odious and detestable Nature of it to God, may be seen:
Surely, it is reasonable to conclude, that it is the wisest and fittest
Method to dispense Pardon, in such a Way, as most clearly discovers God’s
Abhorrence of it. Now, whether only Requiring that Christ should die,
without enduring Penalty in his Death: Or the Infliction of Punishment on him,
in Dying, in order to the Remission of Sin, more fully discovers its Malignity
and evil Nature, may, I think, be safely left to the Determination of any
unprejudiced Person, who hath the least
Discernment in the Things of
God.
III. He says, How forcibly, far beyond any abstract Reasonings,
do these Considerations, viz. God’s delivering up Christ for us all, etc. urge
us to love God and our Saviour, to devote our all to his Honour? etc. f68 Still
our Opinion hath the Advantage infinitely above his. For, surely, every one
must see, that it is a greater Instance of Love to suffer a penal Death,
than it is barely to die, or without enduring Divine Punishment in
Dying. And, consequently, our Obligations to God and the Redeemer are far
greater, on our Principles, than it can be thought they are, upon those of Mr. Taylor:
Therefore, that there is, at least, a great Probability of the Truth of our
Opinion, and of the Falsehood of his, the Nature of his own Reasoning evinces.
But the Reader must observe, That, though he uses swelling Words, he is
very low in Sense and Meaning. Some Men have an admirable Knack of
expressing themselves, in a lofty Manner, when they convey exceedingly
low Ideas, which I can never prevail with myself to admire, on any Subject.
Such a Way of discoursing on this, which is of all other Subjects the most
glorious, important, and astonishing, I heartily despise; because it is
calculated to deceive, and cause weak People to imagine that a Sense is
intended, which is agreeable to its Nature, whereas nothing is more remote
from, or contrary to the Design of the Person himself. Nor is Mr. Taylor insensible
of this.
IV. It is granted, that Christ was an Example to us in
Suffering; but not as he bore Sin, suffered for it, and was made a Curse,
to redeem us from the Law’s Curse; in neither of these Views, is he proposed to
us an Example these Things are peculiar to him, in the Character of the
Redeemer of the Church of God. Yet, we freely allow, that, from this glorious
Pattern of Meekness, Love, and Zeal for the Honour of God, we may learn Usefulness,
f69 Love, f70
Humility, Condescension, f71 Trust
in God, f72 Mortification of fleshly Lusts, f73 Patience,
Meekness, and Fortitude under Sufferings, f74 Deadness to the
World, f75 as Mr. Taylor observes. And I think, that he is not
so stupid, as not to discern, that our Opinion furnishes us with these
Advantages, in a Degree, at least, equal with his own.
V. Faith in Christ is not, it seems, a Reliance or
Dependence on his Blood and Righteousness for Pardon and Acceptance with God;
but it is the Attention of our Minds fixed upon him, as our Example,
whereby we become like him, in our Temper and Behaviour; and, being so,
on that Account, we have a Claim upon God for the Remission of our Sins, and
the eternal Salvation of our Souls. This it is to be baptized into
Christ’s Death. This it is to eat his Flesh and drink his Blood, in the
Institution of the Lord’s Supper. And this is Approaching to God through
Christ’s Blood with Boldness. f76 These Things are not true,
and I am bold to affirm, that they agree not with the Experience of a single
Christian, in the whole World. Indeed, it is not to be expected of
Men, after they have destroyed the Fundamentals of Christianity, to give
us a true Account of Christian Experience. Mr. Taylor ought not to take
it amiss, that I am so very brief in my Remarks here; because, though he throws
out a Flood of Words, he expresses very little Matter. Which, I
confess, is a Way of Writing not at all grateful to me.
VI. The Death of Christ is the Cause of our Sanctification.
(1). Meritoriously: For, 1. His Sufferings and Death were required, by
the Divine Father, of him, as a Condition of communicating Grace to us, to
sanctify our Hearts and make us meet for Heaven. (Isaiah 53:10.) 2. He,
therefore, may claim the Communication of Grace to us, unto that great End, as
a Debt due to him (Romans 4:4), according to the Reasoning of the
Apostle, in the Place referred to. (2). Influentially: As his Blood is
applied to our Consciences, by the Blessed Spirit, it assures us of the
Remission of our Sins, and effects in us an Abhorrence of Evil, and a Desire of
perfect Conformity to him, in every Branch of Purity and Holiness. Hence, the
Divine Writer to the Hebrews thus prays in their Behalf: Now the God
of Peace, that brought again from the Dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd
of the Sheep, through the Blood of the everlasting Covenant, make you perfect
in every good Work, to do his Will, working in you that which is well pleasing
in his Sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be Glory for ever and ever.
Amen (Hebrews 13:20, 21).
MR. Taylor’s Recommending
a Pamphlet, intitled, Second Thoughts concerning the Sufferings and Death of
Christ, excited in me a Desire to read it. Upon the Perusal of it, I quickly
perceived, what was the Reason of his Recommendation. The Author wholly
explains away, and, as he thinks, evinces the Absurdity of the Doctrine of
Atonement, by the Blood of Christ, or of Salvation through his Sufferings and
Death, as the meritorious Cause of it. My narrow Limits will not allow
me to enlarge, in animadverting on this Performance.
I. I would observe that some Principles want Proof, which the
Author takes for granted, and upon which the main of his Reasoning is founded,
and, therefore, his Superstructure which he hath built upon them, will no more
stand than a Castle erected in the Air. They are these.
1. Unblemished and perfect Holiness is not necessary to an
Interest in the Approbation and Favour of God: Or, God can account a Person
righteous, who is, at least, in some Degree, unrighteous. For, he allows, that
no Character in human Life is unmixed or perfect. f77
2. There is a Fitness in Repentance and Reformation to
procure the Pardon of Sin: Or to regain an Interest in the Favour and
Approbation of God. Although a Man hath been, through the Course of his Life, luxurious,
incontinent, perfidious, oppressive, fraudulent, rapacious, cruel, proud,
envious, wrathful, malicious, revengeful, or brutal and diabolical in his
Disposition and Behaviour; hath neither feared God, nor regarded Men:
Such is the intrinsic Value
and Worth of Repentance, that it will justly fit him for the Pardon of all
his aggravated Guilt, and procure him a Title to Happiness.
3. Repentance is in the Power of every Sinner. Or no Criminal
whatever needs Supernatural Strength to bring him to repent of his Sins,
and to practise that Virtue, which will recommend him to the Approbation and
Favour of his Maker.
4. The Death of Christ is not the Cause of Repentance in any
Sinner, and, consequently, it was not at all necessary unto the Being of
Repentance.
5. The Justice of God is only Goodness, acting under the
Direction of his Wisdom for the Good, f78 i.e. the Happiness, of
the Creation, though apostate and corrupt.
And, therefore,
6. The End of the Infliction of Punishment must be the Good
and Happiness of the guilty Creature. This is a most pleasing Representation of
Divine Justice, for this will never leave us without a Ground of Hope of
Deliverance from Misery, let our Guilt be ever so heinous and accumulated.
7. Divine Love to Men follows upon their Love to God and
Goodness: Or, they become amiable, and then God loves them. f79
8. The Communication of all personal Worth or Merit is
impossible. f80 I suppose he means, what Christ did and suffered cannot
possibly be imputed to us.
Answ. 1. Personal Worth
may intend inherent Powers and Perfections: Thes always reside in their proper
Subject, and cannot be transfused into another. But, 2. If he means the
Obedience of Christ: to the Law and Will of God, we allow, that is not
communicated, or transfused into us, nor can be. Yet, 3. It is imputed to us,
or placed to our Account. This is a Grant of his Righteousness to us. And, 4.
God sees that Righteousness to be ours, not inherently, indeed, but by
gracious Imputation. 5. Thereupon, he accepts, or justifies us. In no other
Sense can it be said, that Righteousness
is imputed without Works. The Author hath not given the least Proof of the
Truth of these Principles, either from Revelation or Reason; but takes them all
for self-evident Principles, which need no other Confirmation,
than their own evidencing Light, which he thinks sufficient to gain the Consent
of every one who considers them. But I must crave Leave to with-hold my Assent
from them all, until he shall be pleased to offer something for their Proof.
II. I proceed to consider, what the Author asserts and argues
for, from these unproved Principles. And,
1. He thinks, That the Justice of God cannot require a
Satisfaction for the Sins of sincere Penitents, because sincere Repentance
certainly renders them the Objects of Divine Favour and Approbation. This
is with him a most insuperable Difficulty. f81
Answ. 1. He supposes, that Repentance might be without a
Satisfaction made for Sin. This I deny, and affirm, that Repentance is the
Effect of the Satisfaction of Christ, nor can he prove the contrary. 2.
Repentance procures not Divine Love, nor does it render a Person a fit Object
of a justifying Act of God.
2. Another Difficulty arises from the Representations of that
Severity of Justice, which makes an Expiation necessary. — Every sin deserveth God’s Wrath and Curs e, both in
this World and that which is to come. — It is an infinite Evil, and
requires Satisfaction of infinite Value; and God cannot pardon any Sin
without a Satisfaction. — Such a Severity shocks my Imagination. f82
Answ. 1. Every Sin
deserveth God’s Wrath and Curse for ever. Cursed is every one that continueth not in all Things
that are written in the Book of the Law to do them. 2. Sin is an infinite
Evil objectively, or as it is committed against an infinite Object. But
I expect, that some Sort of Men will soon dare to say, that Sin committed
against God, is not attended with greater Demerit, than Sinning against a
Creature is. For, though they pretend, that Reason is their Religion, they
argue upon religious Principles, as if they had really lost their Reason. 3.
There is no Weight at all in his Imagination being shocked. For it is common
with some to think, that God is unrighteous who taketh Vengeance, of
which Number there is too much Reason to fear, that he is one: I cannot
reconcile it to infinite Goodness, says he. f83 And what if he
cannot? That is no Objection of the least Importance. Is the Exercise of
punitive Justice towards a criminal Creature incompatible with Divine Goodness?
By no Means; if it is, punitive Justice cannot be exercised at all, for it is
not possible to God to act inconsistently with any of his Perfections. He
proceeds to object unto his being brought into that State, wherein he finds
himself, if it is so, that every sin deserveth Punishment; and is very
severe, if not impious, in the Manner of expressing himself. This
one might dread from a malevolent Being. Horrid, indeed! But is not to
be expected under the Administration of the original, essential, perfect, and
unchangeable Goodness, which gave Birth to the Universe, with an Intention of
communicating Happiness to the Creatures in it. And concludes thus: It
would have been as fully consistent with the Goodness of my Maker to have made
me what I originally am, out of the Earth, as to make me what I am, as a
Descendant from Adam. f84
The Apostacy of Adam, therefore, can be
no just Reason, why his Descendants should be placed in unhappy Circumstances.
Our present Situation is entirely withdrawn from the Bar of Justice, and is
wholly referred unto Divine Goodness, which, as it is said, designs nothing
but the Happiness of the
Creature. Infinite Benevolence, therefore, hath determined to give Existence to
innumerable rational Creatures, so situated in Consequence of the Sin of him
from whom they spring, in their successive Generations, as is certainly
followed with the Depravation of every Individual, who continues in Being so
long as to be affected by the evil Temptations, which are inseparable from the
present State. This Depravation is the Loss of the true Glory and Felicity of
the reasonable Creature. This, it seems, is owing to infinite Benevolence.
Again, for that is not all, by this Depravation, Men are, at least in Danger of
being hurried on through the Force of Temptations, which easily work upon
depraved Minds, to act a Part which naturally tends to their everlasting
Destruction, and actually much the superior Number of Men, perish for ever. And
it seems, that it is the Decree of Divine Beneficence to place them in so disadvantageous
and exceedingly dangerous a State. Farther, it is the Appointment of the
same immense Kindness, that a great Part of the human Species, who are not
chargeable with Guilt contracted by another, and have never offended
themselves, shall endure Tortures which would pierce a Heart of
Stone, and expire in dreadful Agonies. Moreover, it is the Goodness
of God which ordained, that so great a Part of Mankind shall be subject to a
Train of Miseries in the present State of Things, which the most rigid Virtue
cannot possibly defend a Person from, viz. extreme Poverty, Contempt,
Oppression, and vile Cruelty. This is that lovely Condition, which
the Goodness of the great Creator hath ordained the human Species unto; for
Justice, it seems, hath no Concern at all in this Appointment! Prodigious,
indeed! One would imagine that Men, who ascribe this Situation to the Goodness of
God, cannot, themselves, believe the specious Things, which they express
concerning it, nor can possibly have any pleasing Expectations from it, how
much soever, to serve a Purpose, they think well to extol and applaud it. But
all there Things are act accounted for, by bringing them to the Bar of Divine
Justice, unto which alone they can in Reason be referred.
3. A Third Difficulty is, Innocence cannot be punished.
Perfect Innocence can know no Pains of Conscience. Perfect Innocence
can have no Apprehension of the Wrath and Displeasure of God. f85
Answ. 1. If Men may be
allowed to express themselves, in what Way they shall think proper, upon a
Subject, they may prove or disprove any Thing, It is not Innocence, nor an innocent
Person, as so considered, that is punished. But, 1. An innocent Person may bear
the Sins of others, or have their Guilt imputed to him. 2. In Consequence of
that, suffer Punishment. 3. He hath no Consciousness of having contracted that
Guilt, which is placed to his Account. But, 4. He may have a painful Sensation
of the Charge of that Guilt to him. And, 5. Of that Wrath and Displeasure,
which the Sin that is imputed to him demerits. 6. A mere Consciousness
of having sinned is not Punishment, nor does that enter into the Nature of
Punishment. For, (1). That is no other than a natural Act of the Mind,
as it is endued with a Power of Recollection. (2). Such a Consciousness will
always be in those who are pardoned, except it is supposed, that they will forget
that they once were Sinners; which if they do, then the Benefit of Salvation from Sin, and its Consequences,
they can have no Remembrance of. Some, indeed, seem to imagine, that thus it
shall be with the Saints in Heaven, but without any Foundation: And unto the
total and eternal Eclipse of the Glory of the Grace of God, in our Salvation by
Jesus Christ.
4. He objects, That the Ends of Government are not
answered, but evaded, by the Punishment of Sin in Christ. f86
Answ. 1. It is granted, that
this Appointment was of the Father, as he says. 2. That Christ did not procure
the Love of the Father to Men. His Sacrifice was the Fruit of Divine Love, and
not the Cause of it. In order farther to prove, that the Ends of Government are
evaded by this adorable Scheme of Salvation, he, (1) Supposes it was
possible, that Christ might not have been willing to die for us. f87 This
is a Supposition of what is not to be supposed. For, 1. The Will of the Father
was an Obligation upon Christ in his human Nature, which was that wherein he
suffered. 2. As a Divine Person, he assumed that Nature into Union with
himself, in order to give it up to Suffering and Death. 3. The Will of Christ’s
human Nature was wholly under the Direction of the Will of his Divine Nature.
4. He could not but consent unto the Pleasure of the Father, in this Matter;
yet his
Consent was voluntary, and not
forced. (2). He enquires thus: How could his willing Submission to the
Father alter the Case, with Respect to the Ends of Government? It will be
confessed, that the Father’s giving him up, without a willing Compliance, could
not have answered these Ends. f88
Answ. 1. If Christ had
not consented to take our Guilt upon himself, and to suffer Punishment in our
Stead, in his Death, he would not have offered himself a Sacrifice to God, nor
would there have been any Thing in his Death pleasing to him, as a Sacrifice
for Sin, and, consequently, nothing of a Fitness in it to atone for Sin:
And, of Course, no Display of Justice, but a mere arbitrary Act of
Violence put forth upon him. 2. How much soever the Author may be pleased with
this bold Enquiry, it affects himself as well as us: Since he must
grant, that, if Christ had not consented unto his Death, nothing of Wisdom,
Goodness, and Mercy towards us had been therein manifested.
5. The Author thinks, That, if this Point is of so much
Importance, it should be plain and level to every Capacity, etc. f89
Answ. The deep Things
of God are certainly of the greatest Importance; but it don’t follow, that,
therefore, they are plain and level to any Capacity, especially the Capacities
of those, who think, that their Reason is the Standard and Test of
Truth. They are the wise and prudent from whom heavenly Mysteries are hid,
and to whom they are Folly and Weakness.
6. He enquires, What is the Fruit of the Satisfaction of
Christ? Is it an Indemnity to the World? No Man says this. f90
Answ. 1. Christ did not
die for the whole human Race. 2. Those who affirm, that he did, deny his proper
and full Satisfaction, whereof, as I suppose, the Author, was not ignorant.
And, therefore, I cannot but consider his Reasoning here, as an Instance of
Unfairness and Disingenuity; and his Insult upon it, is very unworthy of him,
who gives full Evidence, that he is no Stranger to the Controversies this
Matter. Why, therefore, does he with such an Air of Insult say, Is
this an Administration worthy of God? How can Justice have received a full
Satisfaction, and yet Satisfaction is to be made again, as if no Satisfaction
had been made at all? f91
He very well knows, I am persuaded, that those
who maintain the universal Extent of the Death of Christ, do not allow,
that his Death was satisfactory to Divine Justice for Sin, though he is pleased
thus to express himself. 3. I freely grant, that, if the Death of Christ is of unlimited
Extent, his Death was not satisfactory to the Law and Justice of
God, for the Sins of any Part of Mankind. If it is once proved, that he died
for Men universally, it will never be proved, that he made a proper
and full Satisfaction for the Sins of any one Man in the World. And this
the Author, in my Opinion, full well knows.
7. He enquires thus: If their Offences have been fully
satisfied for, and a Punishment every Way equal to them actually borne, in what
Sense can Pardon be said to be free? f92
Answ. 1. As he says, to
Sinners it is free. 2. The Scripture, by free Remission, does not mean
Pardon, without Satisfaction, but Forgiveness, without any moving Consideration
in the sinner pardoned. 3. It is false which he affirms, that on the Part of
the Father, considered as a moral Governor, it can in no Sense be so, i.e. free.
For the Father, out of infinite Love to Men, provided and appointed that
Sacrifice, by which Satisfaction is made. And, therefore, the Satisfaction his
Justice hath received for Sin, is no Objection to the Freeness and Riches of
his Grace and Mercy, in pardoning it to the Sinner.
8. After all, could it be proved, that there in any Thing in
the Divine Nature, or, in the Thing itself any Expediency amounting to a moral
Necessity, which should render it unfit or impossible for God to forgive any,
even the least Sin, upon sincere Repentance, without such a Satisfaction, all
that hath been said must be given up. But
I really despair
of seeing that proved. f93
Answ. 1. The Author
supposes, that sincere Repentance might be, without this Satisfaction, which is
false, for Repentance is a Fruit of Satisfaction by the Death of Christ. 2. He
suggests, that Remission follows upon Repentance, which is not true; a Man’s
Sins, at least, in Order of Nature, are forgiven, before he exercises
Repentance. Because God wills not to impute Sin to, a Man, therefore, he gives
him Repentance, unto Life. 3. I cannot but apprehend, that he has seen clear
Proof given of the Necessity of Satisfaction, though, through Prejudice,
he will not allow of it. If I thought him a Person unacquainted with what
hath been written, on that important Subject, I would point out to him, where
he might meet with full Proof of this Matter; but, as I am persuaded, that he
is one, who has been conversant in Writings of that Kind, I think it entirely
needless to refer him to any Writer, on that Subject. Let him review and
reconsider what he has read, in Relation to that Point, and if he is not apostatized
from Truth, through carnal Reason, Pride, Unbelief, and Contempt of
heavenly Mysteries, probably, he may discern, what, at present, he
professes not to do. If he is such a one, I pray God, to give him Repentance
unto the Acknowledging of the Truth.
Ft1 (a) Candid Remarks, etc. by Mr. Hampton, Pages
68, 69.
Ft2 Page 54.
Ft3 Pages 67, 68, 79, 80, 82.
Ft4 Mr. Taylor’s Key to the Apostolic Writings, Chap. 9,
No. 166, and
Note.
Ft5 Sponsor Foederis appellatur Jesus, quod nominene Dei nobis
spondonderit, id est, fidem fecerit, Deum Foederis Promissiones servaturum
esse. Non vero quasi pro nobis sposponderit Deo, nostrorumve debitorum
Solutionem in se receperit. Nec enim nos inisimus Christum; sed Deus, cujus
nomine Christus ad nos venit, Foedus nobiscum panxit, ejusque Promissiones
ratas fore spospondit and in se recepit; ideoque nec Sponsor simpliciter, sed
Foederis Sponsor nominatur: Spopondit autem Christus pro Foederis divini
Veritate, non tantum quatenus id firmum ratumque fore Verbis perpetuo testatus
est, sed etiam quatenus Muneris sui Fidem maximis rerum ipsarum comprobavit
Documentis, tum Vitae Innocentia and Sanctitate, tum Divinis plane, quae
patravit, Operibus; tum Mortis adeo truculentae, quam pro Doctrinae suae
Veritate subiit, Perpessione. Comment. in Epist. ad Hebroeos, Cap. 7:22.
Ft6Isaiah 53:6. wbA[gp, fall upon him, 2 Samuel 1:15. So also in 1 Kings
2:29. And thus, in Judges 8:21, fall upon us, wnkA[gp, in other Instances, the Word is used in this Sense.
Ft7 Isaiah 53:10. And thou shouldst have brought (µça) Guiltiness, or Guilt upon us, >Genesis
26:10. Fools make a Mock at (µça) Sin. Proverbs
14:9. Thou knowest my Foolishness, and my Sins (ytwmçaw) are not hid from thee, Psalm 69:?
ft8 Arise, lift, or take
up (yaç. 70 labe) the Lad, Genesis
21:18. I will take (aça. 70 lhyomai) the Cup of Salvation,Psalm 116:13. Let the Reader
consult Trommii Concord, and he will find many Instances, wherein the 70
thus render the original Word. The Apostle uses this Word to express
Christ’s Assumption of our Nature: But he made himself of no Reputation,
taking upon him (labwn) the Form of a Servant, Philippians 2:7, Isaiah 53:12.
Ft9 Ezekiel 4:4, 5, 6.
Scripture-Doctrine of Atonement examined, Pages
26, 27, 28, 29,
30.
Ft10 Page 30.
Ft11 Genesis 47:30; Exodus 10:19; Numbers 16:15. etc.
Page 30, 31.
Ft12 Page 32.
Ft13 Ephesians 4:8; Psalm 68:18; µdab twntm tjql
Ft14 Page 33.
Ft15 Pages 33, 34.
Ft16 Page 34.
Ft17 Page 35.
Ft18 Page 96.
Ft19 Page 99.
Ft20 Ibid.
Ft21 See his Paraphrase on Romans 3:25, 26.
Ft22 Page 37.
Ft23 Pages 37, 38.
Ft24 Page 73.
Ft25 Page 38.
Ft26 Ibid.
Ft27 Page 38.
Ft28 Ibid.
Ft29 Ibid.
Ft30 Page 38.
Ft31 Page 39.
Ft32 Page 59.
Ft33 Ibid.
Ft34 Page 65.
Ft35 Ibid.
Ft36 Page 66.
Ft37 Ibid.
Ft38 Page 77.
Ft39 Pages 78, 79.
Ft40 Page 82.
Ft41 Page 82, and in his Note on Romans 5:20.
Ft42 Ibid.
Ft43 Page 83.
Ft44 Page 84.
Ft45 Pages 84, 85.
Ft46 Page 85.
Ft47 Ibid.
Ft48 Page 86.
Ft49 Page 87.
Ft50 Page 87.
Ft51 Page 87.
Ft52 Pages 87, 88.
Ft53 Page 89.
Ft54 Pages 91, 92.
Ft55 Pages 93, 94.
Ft56 Pages 94, 95.
Ft57 Page 96.
Ft58 Page 96.
Ft59 Page 97.
Ft60 Pages 97, 98.
Ft61 Page 98.
Ft62 Pages 98, 99.
Ft63 The LXX render tjt by anti in many Places, <010425>Genesis 4:25; Genesis
22:13; Genesis 30:2; Esther 2:4; 2 Samuel 18:33. etc.
Hesiod uses this Preposition in that Sense, when he says, (Diov anti) in the Place of Jove. Twv gar oi efrasathn, ina mh
basilhi`da timhn Allov ech, Diov anti Qewn aieigenetawn Qeog, Ver. 892, 893.
Ft64 Page 109.
Ft65 Graecis Auribus significantissimum est, to einai junctum isa. Integra sane AEqualitas
Verbis plenius exprimi non potest. Fortuita Sacra, page 213.
Ft66 Page 120.
Ft67 Pages 109, 110.
Ft68 Page 113.
Ft69 Page 119.
Ft70 Page 119.
Ft71 Ibid.
Ft72 Page 120.
Ft73 Ibid.
Ft74 Ibid.
Ft75 Page 121.
Ft76 Pages 127, 122, 131, 122, 123, 124, 104, 126.
Ft77 Second Thoughts concerning the Sufferings and Death of
Christ, Page 8.
Ft78 Page 15.
Ft79 Pages 9, 10.
Ft80 Page 9.
Ft81 Page 14.
Ft82 Page 15.
Ft83 Page 15.
Ft84 Page 16.
Ft85 Page 17.
Ft86 Page 19.
Ft87 Ibid.
Ft88 Page 19.
Ft89 Page 21.
Ft90 Page 21.
Ft91 Page 22.
Ft92 Page 23.
Ft93 Page 23.
Please direct your comments to Mike
Krall.