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the most submissive obedience, in order to obtain for us the favour of the Father.

XVIII. This reconciliation, effected by the sufferings of Christ, is expressly and frequently mentioned in Scripture; as in the following passages. "When we "were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death " of his Son." "All things are of God, who hath re"conciled us to himself by Jesus Christ." "God was "in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." "It pleased "the Father, having made peace through the blood "of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to him"self." The Scriptures contain many other testimonies to the same effect.

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XIX. It must be remarked, however, that this reconciliation is attributed, but attributed in different re1 spects, to God the Father, to Christ the Mediator, and sometimes to believers themselves. God the Father is said to reconcile us, as from eternity he decreed to restore to a state of favour some of mankind fallen by sin; and being himself reconcileable from his own philanthropy, and determining to be reconciled in a manner becoming his character, made all that preparation which was necessary for repairing the breach betwixt himself and sinners." Christ the Mediator réconciles us to the Father by his satisfaction and merit, which he exhibits to God, and upon beholding which all his anger is turned away; for he satisfied all the demands of the law, that God might be just in justifying the sinner. By his own blood, too, he purges the con

too,

▸ John xiv. 31. xv. 18. Philip. ii. 8.

9 Rom. v. 10.

• Verse 19.

I 2 Cor. v. 18.

t Col. i. 19, 20.

2 Cor. v. 19. Col. i. 20.

II. In discoursing aright on the SUFFERINGS Christ, an expression, including amongst others, t which are afterwards expressly mentioned in the Cr -five points fall to be explained. 1st, WHO su ed. 2dly, WHAT-3dly, WHEN-4thly, FOR W END-5thly, FOR WHOM-he suffered.

III. WHO suffered ?-Christ the Mediator, man, made satisfaction by suffering, in his whole son; each nature contributing its own share. Ins propriety of speech, Christ suffered only in the hu nature; since the adorable Divinity is equally in ble of the least increase or diminution of its glo blessedness, and finds most amply in itself alone in the possession, knowledge, and enjoyment of its perfections, all the treasures of that felicity whi worthy of the Supreme Being. "If thou sinnest, "dost thou against him? or if thy transgressio

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multiplied, what dost thou unto him? If "be righteous, what givest thou him, or wha "ceiveth he of thine hand?" But that it is far being true, that the Divinity contributed nothi all towards this object, will appear from what is i diately to be said.

IV. As the whole man, both in soul and body, obedience to God; and as the whole man, sou body, sinned and thus became obnoxious to e punishment; so it was necessary that Christ suffer at once in soul and body, that he might God in both parts of human nature, expiate guilt, and sustain the punishment due to sin. whole history of the Gospel speaks at great 1 of the sufferings of his body; of those of his so

1 Job xxxv. 6, 7.

1

himself complained in the garden, saying; "My soul " is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death."m That his sorrow was extremely vehement was sufficiently manifest, when "his sweat was, at it were, great drops of "blood, falling down to the ground." These expressions must not be so jejunely explained, as if the body were properly the subject of his suffering, and the soul suffered only by sympathy; for hitherto the body did not suffer, and the sufferings of the body constituted by far the least part of that punishment which it behoved the Surety of mankind to undergo.

v. The Divinity itself indeed suffered nothing; but it afforded strength to the suffering humanity, that it might be able to sustain the pressure of divine vengeance when afflicting it with the whole weight of its anger-not sinking under the load, but nobly overcoming it, and happily lifting up its glorious head. So great is the vehemence of the divine indignation when poured forth against sin in all its fierceness, that unless support is administered by more than human or any created strength, man must inevitably sink under it, and be everlastingly crushed by its power. Hence it follows that none but "the mighty God," strong and valiant? was able to grapple at once with the infernal hosts, and with God himself avenging iniquity.

VI. But the Divinity of Christ was of importance in another respect. It was owing to the Divinity, that the person suffering was GOD-MAN," in whom dwel"leth all the fulness of the godhead bodily ;"-not mystically, as in believers-not symbolically, as in the sacraments-not typically and figuratively, as in the

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temple and the ark-but "bodily," that is, really or personally; as the body is either opposed to the shadow, or designates a person. To the Divinity, in consequence, it was owing, that the suffering of one so great, namely, a Divine and infinite Person, could not fail to be regarded as possessing infinite worth; so that the sufferings of Christ, though of short duration, were equivalent to the eternal sufferings of the damned; and the sufferings of a single person sufficed for the redemption of the many myriads of the elect. Hence the Scripture so often recalls our attention to the Divine dignity of Him who suffered, that we may recognise the boundless value of the satisfaction of Christ. It affirms, that " God hath purchased the church with " his own blood" that "the Lord of glory was cruci"fied"s that "Christ through the eternal Spirit offer"ed up himself unto God"t*—that "the blood of Jesus "Christ, the Son of God, cleanseth us from all sin."u

VII. To impart this infinite worth to his sufferings, it was not necessary that the Divine nature itself, or that Christ as God should suffer. It was sufficient that he who is God, should suffer. All the actions and sufferings are the actions and sufferings of the person, and receive their value and denomination from the dignity of the person, as from the principium quod, although with respect to their condition, they are to be attributed to the nature from which they take their rise, as the principium quo.8

VIII. In vain, too, doth Socinus argue, that the dignity of the person contributes nothing towards the in

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finitude of the punishment, because "there is no respect " of persons with God ;" and that if this holds even when there is room for the exercise of his mercy, much more, when the infliction of punishment according to justice, or rather according to the dictates of the strictest severity, is in question. In reply to this cavil, we observe, 1st, That "the respect of persons" which God disclaims, is quite a different matter from the consideration of the worth of the person, in estimating his sufferings. The Greek term #gorov does not signify a man himself, whom we call a person; but the outward condition or quality of a person or thing, which is unconnected with the cause, and has no concern in its merits. But here the dignity of the person suffering is not an outward quality unconnected with the matter, but more than any thing else contributes essentially to the weight and merits of the cause; for the worth of the person who takes something on himself, is a consideration of great moment. In short, it is one thing to accept the face,*-which is contrary to justice, and is with great propriety represented as impossible with God; and it is a widely different thing to respect the person† properly so called,-which is just, and is rightly attributed to God. 2dly, The condition of a Surety must be distinguished from that of a sinner. Personal dignity might perhaps be of no avail to the guilty individual himself, when suffering the punishment of his own sins; because he possessed when sinning the same dignity which he possesses when suffering; and if it might be pleaded as a reason for dimi

VOL. II.

Πρόσωπον.

▾ Rom. ii. 11.
G

+ Υποστασις.

21.

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