Chapter IX
Of occasional sacrifices for particular sins. Their intendment then, unto
us now.
Now, as touching those particular sacrifices for occasional sins, we find how that there were some special sins that were excepted, and left out from having atonement made for them by those kind of sacrifices ; as, namely, murder, adultery, and blasphemy. And this hath occasioned a
great stumbling to some men, lest their being types of gospel proceedings in pardoning, the sacrifice of Christ s blood should not extend to such sins
as these, but the same exception should now continue. Now, to solve this, and to clear up the matter of our universal pardon, which is now the thing I drive at, the first inquiry must be into the ground of difference then made ; what that should be, that there should be no occasional sacrifice
for those sins, was appointed. Some have founded the difference to lie in
this, that murder and adultery, &c., being sins apparently against con
science and special light, and therewith committed with consent of will,
deliberately, and upon that ground no atonement ; and that those other
sins, for which expiation was made by sacrifice, were only sins of ignorance ; and that that was the reason why those of murder, &c., were excluded from atonement.
Thus some have deemed, because that at the entrance of those commands and prescriptions for such particular sacrifices, in Leviticus, chap. iv. God seems to limit them, for which such atonements were to be made, unto sins of ignorance, as the general rule about them is in ver. 2,
* Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which
ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them. But yet that that was not the ground of that difference, it is manifest; in that in chap, vi., there is the same provision of expiation made for sins against conscience, and deliberately and willingly committed. As in case of a man s having had goods of another man s, or some other matter committed to his trust ; or
of a man that had violently stole, or taken anything from another ; and the
person entrusted having so defrauded his neighbour, did besides utterly deny any such thing to have been committed to him, and so added a lie to his theft, which alone was against knowledge ; yea, and yet more wickedly had superadded oaths to those lies and denials, forswearing himself ; here were sins sufficiently against manifest light of conscience, and a whole
424 OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. [BOOK VI.
cluster of such, and as high against (simple) knowledge as high could be, and as deliberate as deliberate can be.
Yet notwithstanding, upon restitution, ver. 5, he shall bring his trespass-
offering unto the Lord, and unto the priest ; and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the Lord, and it shall be forgiven him ; for any
thing of all that he hath done in trespassing therein ; verses 6,7. Nor is
it limited to circumstances of times, as if he had but once or twice done thus.
It is an error of the highest cruelty unto souls, as well as of derogation to God s grace and Christ s satisfaction, which the Socinians have taken up; that for gross heinous sins against light, committed after believing, there is no forgiveness to be expected from the covenant of grace ; but if any, it must be by an extraordinary way of mercy, and not by virtue of the ordi
nary covenant of grace. But what it should be which hath induced them unto so desperate a condemnation of many poor souls that were penitents after such sins committed, this I have much wondered at. Whether it were
to make their profession of religion highlier admired ; or perhaps rather, that they in their other doctrines, levelling Christ s most extensive meri
torious sacrifice with the sacrifices of the old law, in their affirming that Christ s sacrifice doth take sins away but in the same way and manner
that the sacrifices in the old did (though they acknowledge Christ s sacrifice
to be the more excellent) ; that therefore they should measure the extent
of Christ his taking our sins, by the scant standard of the particular occa
sional sacrifices instanced in the law, in their taking away of sins ; and from thence to judge, that as the sacrifices of the Old Testament served not to signify the taking such great sins away, that therefore Christ s also should testify and declare (for no higher end do they make of it) no more of God s favour towards sinners, than to pardon such sins as those parti cular sacrifices did extend unto the pardon of. For they would make Christ s sacrifice, though they would seem to cry it up for excelling above those of the law, yet to be but metaphorical and figurative, even as those were ; that is, merely serving to signify and shew that God was pacified, and in favour and grace with us ; but not at all by way of merit and
satisfaction from the merits of Christ s sacrifice, no more than through those of old.
But J
TOU see that even according to this their own measure taken from them (which is most wicked), that particular sins against conscience, and those of a heinous nature, were forgiven upon the atonement made by those
particular sacrifices ; neither was there any exception against their atone
ment, though reiterated, or again and again committed.
But, blessed be God, we have not so learned either his grace or our Christ ; nor do we esteem that infinite satisfaction of his, once offered up for all the sins of the whole world, at so low a rate ; as if it had no further
efficacy than what is figurative (as those of the Old Testament were of), or
of no larger extent of dominion over sins, for the expiation of them, than what those several particular occasional sacrifices did reach unto ; which were so limited unto those sins, because, although the expiation of such
sins against knowledge fore-mentioned, made atoneable by such occasional
sacrifices, did signify to them that were believers, that such sins as they were, committed against the moral law, were made pardonable through Christ s satisfaction to come, as well as sins committed of mere ignorance. For Christ s sacrifice was fore-signified in all the sacrifices, and so in these; and so may confirm our faith, that for such sins in a special manner Christ s
sacrifice was ordained, so to relieve the hearts and souls of such as have
CHAP. IX.J OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 425
become guilty of such sins ; that if any man so sin grossly, Christ is a pro
pitiation, a high priest, a ready advocate at hand upon such an urgent
occasion, to plead his sacrifice for their pardon ; as in 1 John ii. 1 2, 3, and 1 Cor. v. 1, 2, 3, and the latter end of the 5th verse. Yet there was
a further larger intention of God s appointing these occasional sacrifices to
the people of that nation, and as they were members of that : a nation and
typical church ; that as every sin deserved corporeal death, as well as
eternal ; and these especially God was pleased to remit, and pardon them
unto them upon sacrifice ; after which externally performed, they still stood and remained members of that nation, and not to be cut off from that land
for them, yea, and might still have the privilege of that outward com munion in their holy things, temple -worship, &c. : for we must know that God was to be considered a sovereign judge unto that people in a double
respect. 1. As he is the judge of all men (as his style is, Heb. xii.), or
judge of all the world (as Gen. xviii.). Or 2. As he took upon him to
be the king of that nation in particular, and sovereign governor of that
country, in such a manner as he owned no other people in the world. And
thereupon set up their judges, and chose David, and his seed after him,
immediately as his lieutenants ; and thereupon gave them judicial laws for
the government of that nation. And in this latter respect he appointed an atonement by occasional sacrifices for such sins as deserved eternal death from him, as he is judge of all the world, which yet, as judge of that
nation, he was pleased to appoint and receive an atonement for. And so
these sacrifices in that respect, and absolutions thereupon, are to be re
ferred unto his judicial law ; from which privilege he yet exempted the sins
forespecified, adultery, &c., which he, as the supreme law-giver of that
kingdom, had peremptorily designed for a being cut off from that people. And this was the ground of difference of such sacrifices, acceptable for other
sins, when not for those.
Yet, notwithstanding this political end and use of such sacrifices for such
sins, that they might continue free denizens of that church and kingdom, this did not hinder or prevent and exclude the faithful amongst them from
having an eye unto that other use and end mentioned, a spiritual forgive ness of those particular sins, as an atonement for their souls, whenever they had occasion to offer such sacrifices upon their sinnings. Yea, they were
therein called thereunto ; for sacrifices were not mere civil acts, as presents made unto a civil prince, but religious, as unto God that was offended.
Yea, they were called sin-offerings, in common with all other that were
sacrifices for their souls ; and the blood of them was sprinkled seven times
afore the Lord, before the veil of the sanctuary, and on the altar of incense, with all such rites performed about the blood that were used in the daily sacrifices ; as you read Lev. iv. from ver. 4 to the end. And of all sacri
fices with blood (whatever they were), God indifferently and alike says, Lev.
xvii. 11, that the life was in the blood : For the life of the flesh is in the
blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar, to make an atonement for
your souls ; for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. And therefore the one as well as the other served for the expiation of their
souls, if any of them did so sin. Moreover, the circumstances of those par ticular sins were forgiven as well as the outward fact. And therefore these
sacrifices were expiations, if they had true faith, for their souls. Accord
ingly, you find in the forecited Lev. vi. 7, in the case of foreswearing a man s self, &c., the atonement, his sacrifice runs in these terms, It shall be
forgiven him, for any thing he hath done, in trespassing therein. Wherein
426 OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. [BOOK VI.
God, supposing that many aggravating circumstances might accompany such"
sins, beside the outward fact, let them have been what they may prove to
be, they shall be, even anything therein, forgiven him. This a burdened conscience amongst them would take heed of ; for circumstances lie heavier on the soul than the act.
And surely if David could spy out a soul-forgiveness for such sins as were
exempted from particular expiation by sacrifice, namely, his murder and
adultery, for which there was no particular sacrifice allowed to atone him from bodily death ; and therefore says to God,
* Thou desirest not sacrifice
(namely, for these sins), else would I give it, Ps. li. 16 ; yet, notwith
* Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean ; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. And again, ver. 16, Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, God, thou God of my salvation ; and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. He expresseth how he had in his eye a further righteousness even that which the apostle calls
standing, he cried out for a soul-forgiveness of them : ver. 7,
* The righteousness of God through faith then
surely from hence I argue, that if David had committed any of those other
particular sins, for which a particular sacrifice was appointed, his faith in
offering that his sacrifice would have looked for soul-forgiveness of that
sin. And in like manner, other believing Jews, in their particular offer
ings for those sins, had or might have had an eye unto the like forgive ness also.
And the use and comfort from the instances of these particular atone ments under the Old, may be very great to us under the New Testament, to relieve our faith in the case of relapsing into presumptuous sins against conscience, and those the most heinous, reiterated, and deliberately com mitted ; and that notwithstanding such, we are not excluded, but may have access to God through our high priest for the forgiveness of them, in the
faith and invitation of his sacrifice ; which certainly being the truth and substance of all sacrifices whatsoever, must be supposed to have been the ultimate end and scope of all, and aim in them all, and to have an infinitely greater efficacy to do away any, or all particular sins, in the moral guilt of them, than those mere shadows had, to expiate either individual guilts of
corporeal death, or to be so much as significant also of the forgiveness of
their souls, as in the shadow.
Yea, and I further suppose, that this was one special aim and intent why God did appoint such occasional sacrifices for occurring * special sins ; to teach and instruct us (as did the saints in those times) to turn unto our only
priest and mediator Christ Jesus, and unto God through him, in a more set
and solemn manner, for a special atonement of such occasional sins which the apostle terms, being
* overtaken in a fault, Gal. v. 1 as they do or may fall out, over and besides our daily begging forgiveness for sins of
ordinary infirmity and incursion.
And I have made the larger excursion about these particular sacrifices
for particular sins, because I take it the apostle John doth under the
language of allusion unto the atonements made by the sacrifices of old, direct us unto the like practice, to have an alike recourse unto Christ our
high priest and propitiation for occasional sins. In his First Epistle, chap. ii. ver. 1,2, My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous
: and he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. For the obtaining the That is, meeting. ED.
CHAP. X.] OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 427
special and more direct aim and meaning of which words, we may look back and consider how he had in the foregoing chapter first spoken of the
forgiveness of such daily unavoidable sinnings, as accompany believers in
: chap. i. ver. 7, But if we walk in the light, as he
their strictest walkings
is in the light, we have fellowship one with another ; and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. And how that for these there is a pardon of course (as we use to speak), though yet upon our con
fessions thereof. And we may by comparing them together observe, how in this chap. ii. he proceeds to a special case of believers sinnings ; and that is the case of sinning more grossly
: My little children, these things I write unto you, that ye sin not (that is, willingly and deliberately, against that light, which he had said, chap. i. 7, that the saints
* walking in, have
* and if any man sin, that is, who so
fellowship with God, who is light ) ;
sins against his own light, and contrary to the light of that fellowship with
God he is called to enjoy and walk in, this is the case. Now in the words
afore, chap. i. 8, he had apostolically declared against a state of perfection, the saints having no sin at all ; the experience of himself, if we, and all other believers, utterly confutes that dotage.
* If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us ; and thereupon exhorts us, ver. 9, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness ; meaning ordinary infirmi
ties, that fall out in those that walk most exactly. It had been utterly incongruous that after this he should come in with an if,
* If any man sin,
&c., unless he had intended such kind of sinnings as were not included in those ordinary sinnings that accompany all sorts of believers. It is there
fore a special exception of sins committed against light, and with deliberate
indulgency of our wills ; and also that first of those passages, These things I write, that you sin not; after those his foregone so positive assertions
against the perfectionists of that age, is not that you never have no sin in
you, for that had been in vain, and contradictory to what God had declared
to be a truth, during this life ; but in that coherence it hath its scope, that
you never sin against your light ; and that is attainable in this life, which
his fellowapostle Peter thus utters it, That you never fall ; that is, will
ingly, against the knowledge and dictates of your spirits. And that apostle in that place shews it to be attainable. Thus much concerning peculiar sacrifices for special sins, and the use our faith is to make of them, which was the first branch.