Chapter X (continued, part 4)
his mind hath so run to us from everlasting. And then, for instance, he
brings in this of giving his Son; Sacrifice and burntofferings, &c., as if he should have said, This of all other is the greatest instance of all his works of wonder ; this his thoughts were most upon, so many that they cannot be numbered ; this is his master-piece, which he brings in instar omnium, instead of all.
And add but unto this Prov. viii. 13, where you shall see the curious ques tion in part resolved, what God did before the world was made ? how he ran out that eternity, and what his thoughts and delight most ran upon ? And
you have it resolved by one who knew his mind, was of his counsel, the
486 THE ONE SACRIFICE. [HEB. X. 4-7.
mighty Counsellor, as being the Wisdom of the Father, as he is there styled, that
* was by him before he made the world, ver. 22, 23 ;
* Then was I, ver. 30 (all the while) by him, who came out of his bosom ; he compares himself to a child brought up by his parent
: I was brought up with him,
lay in his bosom. And what did they together ? Two things.
First, They delighted one with another, and one in another. The Father, that he was able to beget such a Son, like him, co-eternal with him : I was
daily his delight ; and this was delight enough, though no creature had been made. And observe it, that of all his works ad extra towards his creatures which he was to do, he mentions none but the dispensation towards the sons of men, and his delight therein, next to the delight they had in each other.
l Rejoicing in the habitable parts of the earth, and my
Secondly,
delights were with the sons of men, which do inhabit here below, and fill the earth.
Now, what could it be should afford God thoughts of delight about the sons of men so long aforehand ? To look and see them all at one clap turned rebels against him, and view them mustered together in troops against him ? This could minister none but sad and disconsolate thoughts ; It pained him at the heart, Gen. vi. 6. What was it delighted him then ? Men delight only in their friends, not enemies. Was it in him, as created first in a state of friendship ? Then there were but a couple to
delight in. This is in the sons of men all the earth over, the inhabitable
parts of the earth. He had -some in one age or other in all parts inha
bited, who were the desire and delight of his eyes. And besides that fit of
friendship which* Adam was not worth the thinking of, it lasted so little a
while, and ended in so great a lasting and general breach.
His delights were then in this : that he should win to him, and gain the
love of those accursed rebels, in all places habitable, whom he himself loved
so dearly ; and shew that his love, by an unheard of way (that should amaze angels and men), to take away their sins, and reconcile them to him
self by the incarnation and death of his Son, and tie them to him by an
everlasting knot, which their sins should not untie again, nor separate from
that his love. This took up his delights (in the plural) ; he delighted to think it again and again. It must needs be a thing he delights in, that he
feasts himself with the thoughts of so long beforehand, even double delights, as some paraphrase it ; he delighted in them when first made, and that
delight lasting not long, he delights in them again.
But what should be the reason that this plot should so much affect and
delight him. Had he not the angels, that were constant friends to him, to
delight in ? One would think he should have prized their friendship more
for the faithfulness of it. And if he had needed princes, he could have
created new ones, out of these very stones have raised up a new generation and seed of well-willers, as John said of children to Abraham, and have
packed us all to hell for rebels. He had prisons enough to have held us, which kings often want in a general rebellion, and have been glorified in our just destruction.
What should be the reason of this strange affection in our God ? Why ? The Scripture gives it, and our God being even love itself, 1 John iv. 16,
loving, where he sets his love, with an infinite love, as himself is ; which
love, of all things else in him, he loves to shew to the utmost ; and of all * Qu. with ? ED.
HEB. X. 4-7.] THE ONE SACRIFICE. 487
works, works of love have the most delight in them. Therefore, Micah
vii. 18, mercy is called his delight, his darling. He would gladly shew how well he could love creatures, gladdest of the greatest opportunity to shew it, therefore he resolves upon this course to take away sins , to re
concile enemies, whatever it cost ; and the more they should cost him, the
gladder would he be ; the making of a thousand new friends could not have
expressed so much love, as the reconciling one enemy. To love and delight in friends, who had never wronged him, was too narrow, shallow, and slight a way ; he had heights, depths, and breadths of love, Eph. iii. 18, which he would make known, and which nothing but the depth of our misery could have drawn out.
And that this is the reason, see Bom. v. 8, 10, God commends his love towards us, that whilst we were yet enemies, he gave (not any small thing,
but) his Son for us ; not to be born only, but to die. Our being sinners, and his giving his Son, commends or sets out his love ; and that he might commend it, he pitcheth on this course. You see how it was his will ; we have done with that. And that this love should be pitched upon men, not
angels that fell, it commends his love yet further. There were but two sorts of sinners. And that the sons of men are the
sinners specified as objects of this love, as it is a consideration which doth much commend his love, so it is a fourth thing distinctly to be considered. We must of necessity have spoken of it in the end,
* A body hast thou fitted me. It is spoken in opposition to the angels, He took not on him the nature
of angels, Heb. ii. 16 ; his delights were with the sons of men, not the
angels that fell. Sure I am, it commends his love to us. There were but
these two sorts of sinners, whose sins could be taken away ; and of the
twain, who could have thought but their graces should have been propounded
first, and have passed more easily ? They were fairer and better creatures than we ; and if he regarded services, one of them was able to do him more than a thousand of us. When he had bought us, he must be at a great deal
of more trouble to preserve and tend us, than we were able ever to requite in service and attendance upon him. He must allow us much of our time
to sleep and eat, and to be idle, to refresh our bodies ; must tend us, as you would tend a child, rock us asleep every night, make our beds in our sick
ness, Ps. xli. 3, and feed us himself in due season. Whereas the angels could stand in his presence day and night, and not be weary.
And besides, the nature of angels had been a fitter match a great deal for
his Son ; they are spirits, and so in a nearer assimilation to him. Who
ever thought he should choose to match so low as with us, take up our
dirt ? All this makes for us still the more love, for it was the more free. The more unlikely, the more it is commended ; the less we could do for him or for ourselves, the more it would appear he did for us. He is hon oured more in our dependence than in our service. He hath regard to the
lowness of his spouse and handmaid, and lets the mighty go, viz., princi
palities and powers. He loves still to prefer the younger, and make the
elder serve them ; Eom. ix. The angels are ministering spirits for their good. Among men he calls out still the poor, the foolish : Not many wise, or
noble ; and he makes as unlikely a choice amongst his creatures.
Besides ; he had angels enough ready, thousand thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. And he would have some men that should
see his glory, bless him, and ba blessed of him. He loves varieties, to have two witnesses at least. He creates two worlds, heaven and earth ; in them
two several sorts of reasonable creatures, as inhabitants ; upon them he
488 THE ONE SACRIFICE. [HEB. X. 4-7.
* manifold wisdom, Eph. iii. 10. You have now seen the project, taking away of sin ; who, and what in
would shew two several ways of salvation, and all to shew his
him, first moved him to it. The Father, and his will, and that how strongly set to have it done ; and the parties about whom is all this ado, the sons of men.
Let us now view the means in the next place, which he pitcheth on to
effect this great design, both to take away sins, and to shew withal his love
to the utmost ; which is set out to us,
* sacrifices and burnt offerings ; with the reason, not possible to effect it ; or if they had, he not being pleased with that course, Thou wouldest not.
1. Negatively, shewing what he laid aside,
2. Affirmatively, But a body hast thou prepared me ; and this is the second general head in the text.
t$ And as you have seen it was his will, thus strongly pitched upon it as his highest and deepest project, to manifest the dearest affections to him to the utmost, viz., his love, so you shall now see his wisdom soar so high
(indeed, infinitely out of our sight, thoughts, and imaginations) to find out a correspondent means, not only to effect it, but in effecting it to shew both
love and wisdom, and give full satisfaction to his justice, which was
infinitely beyond the reach of any created understanding to have found it.
* He works all things according to the counsel of his will ; his will works
by counsel. And look how much stronglier his will is on a thing, the deeper are his counsels about it. Now to proceed orderly herein ; Observe, that to take away sins he takes means into consideration ; why else are bulls and goats took into considera
tion ? And that he might have taken sins away without any means, or more-
ado, I dare not say the contrary, as some do. He means not to use his
sole prerogative in it, but to do it fairly ; and though by a bare act of his
will he might have done it, yet his will working by counsel, he thought it not yet fit to do it. This reason sways with me, that to punish sin being an
act of his will, as well as the other works of his ad extra, may therefore be
suspended as himself pleaseth. To hate sin is his nature ; and that sin deserves death, is also the natural and inseparable property, consequent, and demerit of it. But the expression of this its desert by actual punish ment is an act of his will, and so might be suspended ; which will, working this and all things else by counsel, thought it not so fit to do so. Which I demonstrate thus ; I will take the ground in the text. Consider the project is to take away sins. Now, if he will take away sins, to shew
his love to the utmost, as hath been shewn, then to make way for the mani
festation of this, he was first to give a law, which might both discover what
was sin, and what a heinous thing it was ; and shew by a threatening annexed, that punishment which it naturally did deserve, and what the sin ner might expect in justice from him.
This was necessary; for where there is no law, there can be no sin, Kom.
v. 13. Sin is not imputed where there is no law ; and otherwise, he should have no sinners actually capable of mercy, none to pardon. Giving this law, he takes upon him to be a judge, and the judge of all the world ; for in the very making of the law he declares himself to be so. And so then he is engaged, upon many strong motives, to shew his justice against sin in that punishment he threatened ; though still in that he is judge of all the world, and the maker of the law could, if he pleased, forbear to
execute those threatenings, seeing a note of irrevocation was not added
HEB. X. 4-7. J THE ONE SACRIFICE. 489
to them. For he that made the law may repeal that part of it ; yet most
strong motives there are to execute them.
He speaks of blood here. Heb. ix. 22, 23, he says that without blood
there is no remission. He will have blood in lieu of satisfaction ; and ver. 23 makes a necessity that there should be sacrifices, and better sacrifices than the blood of bulls and goats ; necessary not absolutely, but in regard of God s resolution to satisfy justice. And therefore the heathens sacrificed
to pacify their angry gods, it being innate in nature that God might be
satisfied. The reasons of this, why God required satisfaction, I have shewed elsewhere.
For is he not the judge of all the world ? And is it not a righteous thing with God to render vengeance ? 2 Thess. i. 5. Shall not the judge of all the world do right ? Gen. xviii. As she said, If thou do not justice, cease
to be a king. And is he not thereby to set a copy to all judges else, being judge of all the world ? Primum in quolibet yenere est mensura reliqiiorum. And is not he an abomination to him that justifies the unrighteous, and condemns the innocent ? Prov. xvii. 15. They may not, because they are but his justices. And though he might, being supreme judge, yet if all the world be his circuit, and he means to condemn the angels by that law, and to shew his justice on them, how will he clearly overcome when he
judges them ? as Roin. iii. 4. Stop the mouths ? as it is in the 19th
verse, if he shews not his justice on those sinners he pardons. And
* Pay what you owe me, what is that to
though he may say to them,
you ? Yet even the men he pardons, and pardons to that end, to shew
his mercy, would esteem sin less, and pardon less, if it were procured and obtained lightly.
There is mercy with him, to be feared, not to be condemned, as the
psalmist speaks. And are not all his attributes his nature, his justice as
well as mercy, his hatred of sin as well as his love of his creatures ? And
is not that nature of his a pure act, and therefore provokes his will to
manifest all these upon all occasions ? Doth not justice boil within him
against sin, as well as his bowels of mercy yearn towards the sinner ? And should sin, which is the greatest inordinancy, not be brought in compass in his government, who doth order all things ? Should it be left extrava
gant and not regarded, and escape as free as holiness ? And is not the
plot of redemption his master-piece, wherein he means to bring all his
attributes upon the stage ? And should his justice, and this expressed by a law, keep in and sit down ? No ; Horn. iii. 26, he resolveth to be just, and the justifier of the sinner too ; that is, as it is in the foregoing verses, by declaring his righteousness ; that is, give an instance of his justice
against the sins of those he pardons, though he justifies the sinner. Though
private men may put off a wrong, yet public persons, that govern others, are to execute it for example sake.
This being his resolution, observe, secondly, that the way he took was by a mediator, that may take sins off from the sinner, and expose himself, to
satisfy his justice ; for no way else can be imagined. And so the goats which he mentions did in the type signify so much ; Lev. xvi., They con
fessed their sins over them, which signified that God intended a commuta
tion, that he sought out some party who might take the sins upon himself, and undertake to satisfy, be able to do it ; and so he might still be just, and also a justifier of us, upon whom he might
* lay the iniquity he took
off from us, Isa. liii. 6, and exact the punishment, as Junius reads the next words ; that might become a surety, Heb. vii. 22 ; that might be made
490 THE ONE SACRIFICE. [HfiB. X. 4-7.
* under the law, Gal. iv. 4, and give and expose himself as a ransom dmXurgov, a sufficient, adequate satisfaction to that his
sin, 2 Cor. v. 21 ; and
justice against sin. These, and many the like phrases, the Scripture uses. And if you ask, how God declares his justice by this course, seeing the law threateneth the sinner ?
I answer, that the law is the effect of God s will, which is guided by counsel, for he works all things according to the counsel of his own
will ; and therefore he may dispense with the tenor or letter of it. If so be those holy ends which his counsel had in making of it be accomplished and attained, and if the reason of the law and lawgiver be satisfied, then is the law.
Now the ends and grounds of giving God s law were to declare and shew
forth his justice and hatred against sin wherever he found it. Now, his
justice and hatred of sin is as fully manifested when punishment is executed
upon a party undertaking sin, to be made a surety for it, as if the sinner himself were punished; if not more, in that he doth but undertake it for
another, and yet is not spared. As God is said to hear our pra}
rers, and
fulfil his promise, when he answers to the ground of our prayers, though not in the thing, so are the cries of sin against the sinner for justice answered, and his threatenings fulfilled, when another is punished, because
all the ends of the lawgiver are fully accomplished.
It is true, the tenor and letter of the law is dispensed with, but not the debt ; that is as fully exacted as ever. It is but a dispensation of the
party obliged, not of the obligation itself, or of the debt, nor of the reasons
of the debt. It is not wholly secundum legem, ovds xara VQ/&OV, ovfe Kara
v6,aou, aXXa VTTZP i/ofAov, xai ucrsg VQ/AOV. It is a saying no less solid than
elegant ; and therefore the more elegant, because it was anciently used in another case.
And although the law doth not mention or name a surety indeed the malefactor s single bond is only mentioned, and the threatening directed
against him. His name is only in the process, because the law in itself
supposeth as yet none else guilty, and can challenge none else ; but if some other, who is lord of his own actions, subject himself to the law
willingly, which will of his is a law to him, and the lawgiver himself, who
is lord of the law, accept this, as seeing the same ends shall be satisfied
for which he made the law in this case, the law takes hold of the surety or undertaker, and he may let the malefactor go free.
And justice will permit this commutation, when all parties are satisfied, and no wrong is done to any. For if the party undertaking be willing,
justice may well be satisfied ; volenti non fit injuria. And having power,
all that thing which he offers to lay down for satisfaction, being lord of it, no other is wronged; neither is the party to be satisfied wronged, if he that undertakes it be of ability fully to satisfy and fulfil what he desires. And if the lawgiver be willing to assent to this act of his, and to accept
it, being lord of his own law, he may dispense with the letter of it, if so be
those holy ends which his counsel had in making it be accomplished and
attained.
In this case, there is no question of injustice ; nay, justice doth rest
satisfied as if the sinner had done it. And all these concur in the means which God hath ordained to take away sin, as we shall see anon.
And now, in the third place, the difficulty in finding out a party who
should willingly undertake this and be able to perform it, and whom God would venture upon, and fully trust to effect it.
HEB. X. 4-7.] THE ONE SACRIFICE. 491
First, the blood of bulls and goats were not able : it is not possible ; and indeed, add to them all the creatures that are the appurtenances of
man, which man hath to give, as silver, gold, precious stones, &c. Nay, not the whole world of them ; for nothing less noble than man can be a
sufficient surety for man s life, which sin deprives of. It must be an ade
quate ransom, dvr/Xurgov, 1 Tim. ii. 6. Redditio ccqulvalentis pro cequiva-
lente, a tooth for a tooth, a life and blood as noble as ours, or it will not
satisfy. Counters will not pay for gold. Now, all such things are not worth a soul which is to be lost for sin, said he that paid for one ; Mat. xvi. 20, Will the Lord be pleased with rivers
of oil ? nay, with the first-born of thy body, for the sin of thy soul ? There is no proportion. God would never have turned away so fair a
chapman, if his justice could afford so cheap a commutation. All the world was made for man to have dominion over, and cannot fill his soul ; and all
in it a man will give for his life, as Job i. ; and therefore, in his own esti
mation, they are not equivalent to it. A king s ransom is more than another man s, because the person is worthier ; so all these is not a worthy price for a man s life, who is lord of all.
; But, secondly, you will say, yet the blood of men equal with thyself may. Ans. Ps. xlix. 7, A man cannot redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him, so precious shall be the redemption of the soul. Shall we say, martyrs, saints, whose deaths yet are precious in God s eyes ? But not so precious as to redeem a soul. Shall we say angels ? Suppose
justice did not require the same nature that sinned should die, it may be doubted their exposing themselves to destruction could not take away sin ; not but that their lives are as good as ours, but because sin is so heinous, God s wrath against it so great, as it could never be slacked. Let us consider a little what sin is.
It is true indeed, that sin hurts not God in regard of the event, Job
xxxv. 6, If thou sinnest, what dost thou against him ? &c., and therefore
say some schoolmen, no restitution need be made per modum justitia. It displeaseth God (say they) only, it doth not hurt him. It is only an
indignity, not an injury. But yet injuries are to be measured, and called
so, by the terminus they tend to, as all motions are ; as that is called
calefactio that tends to heat. And the action is measured by the will of the
party, not by the event and success ; and so, he that hates his brother is
said to be a murderer, though he kills him not, 1 John iii. 15. And God
takes the will for the deed.
1. Now sin tends to destroy God s law, though it doth not ; for not one
iota of it shall pass ; yet because it tends to it, as much as in it lies, Ps. cxix. 126, God accounts of it as destructive to his law.
2. So the manifestation of God s glory, though it shall receive no soil, no more than the sunbeams can do by mists, but it will scatter all ; yet sin tends to darken it and obscure it, and to dishonour him, setting up other gods.
3. So God s being it toucheth not, yet it is a denial of God, Titus i. 16, a professing there is none. It makes a man hate God ; and as
* he that
hates his brother is a murderer, so he that hates God is (what in him lies) a destroyer of his very being ; Peccatum est Dcicidlum. Now, though this injury takes not effect, yet the demerit of it seems to be no less ; not an indignity, but an injury. It is true also, that it is essen
tially bniprivatio boni, and is not pricatio Dei, no more than blindness may be called a privation of colour, but of sight to see with, as Vasquez
492 THE ONE SACRIFICE. [Hss. X. 4-7.
reasons. It is true, as in the eclipse of the sun, though the sun loseth
really no light by it, but the earth, yet because it makes the face of the world below as if there were no sun, it is said to be the eclipse of it, and not of the earth ; and so it may be said of sin : it is a privation of God, of
his glory and law ; because, though indeed we are the losers, yet it makes
to us as if there were no God, as if he had no being, and so may be said
* without God in the world, Eph. ii. 12, and without the law, 1 Tim. i. 9, and are deprived of the glory of God, which is not manifested in them, nor by them, Rom. iii. 23. And if sin is to be accounted really thus, what satisfaction can any crea
the eclipse of his being. They live
ture make, saint or angel, by suffering ? What hath he to be deprived of, that is equivalent to these ? For he can be but destroyed.
First, For the law. Is not the least iota of the law worth heaven and
earth ? Because God s prerogative lies at the stake in it. Is it not the
regula, the original of all the grace they have ? For all grace is but the
copy of the law. Doth it not bind and command all that is in them ? What have they worth it to be destroyed ?
Secondly, For the manifestation of God s glory, how doth all their excel
lency infinitely fall short of the least beam of it ? Better they were all de
stroyed, than the least soil should be cast on it. Is it not the end for which they were made, and therefore is better than they are ? Do they not owe all they have to the advancing of it ? What then can they lose, which can hold proportion with it ? Moralists observe, that of all injuries else, wrongs in points of honour, from inferiors to superiors, do most transcend
satisfaction. If they take goods away from a superior, the restoring of them satisfies him as much as an inferior ; yea, it is less, because to rob a
poor man is more than one that is rich ; but if in point of honour, how can he do it but by submission ? And if he submits to give honour to him, it
is no more than he ought to do, as an inferior. How much more doth a
wrong to God, in point of honour, exceed ? Who are so inferior, as heaven and earth are not worthy to be his throne and footstool.
* My glory I will not give to another.
Thirdly, We are but shadows of being ; he is the substance, whose name
is, I AM. Therefore, but the overshadowing of his being, is more than the
real destruction of ours.
In the third place, suppose it may be said, that if lives went for ours,
they might satisfy as well as we can, seeing they are as good as ours ; and
therefore if eternal death in us be a satisfaction to God s justice (or else God loseth by sin, then he would not have let it come into the world), then
it might be so in them for us, and so we might be freed. These incon-
veniencies follow.
rs be a-satisfying, and it could never be said,
First, Consider, that they must alwa}
* It is finished ; they must lie by it till they pay the utmost far
thing, which they can never do, no more than we ourselves, and so they could not take away sins from us ; for we could not have an accquittance
till the debt were paid ; we could not be justified, till our surety were
acquitted. Therefore, says Paul, if Christ had not risen, we had been yet in our sins ; and therefore the psalmist saith, It ceaseth for ever, shall never be accomplished, Ps. xlix. So precious is the redemption of a soul, that it ceaseth for ever, that is, shall never be accomplished ; so the phrase
is taken elsewhere. It is so precious, as it requires an eternity to do it in, and so shall always be doing, and never be ended, and so we should never be the better, never come to have our bonds cancelled. And for this reason
HEB. X. 4-7.] THE ONE SACRIFICE. 493
sacrifices might not be rejected (as in the verse before my text), they were
fain to offer every year, Heb. x. 3.
Secondly, Suppose that God, to whom eternity is but an instant, should
therefore give us in our bond, when the other had entered into his ; be
cause, though it be an eternity of paying, yet to him it is present. Well,
yet one just man, or angel, could but satisfy for one of us. Life could but
go for life, a tooth for a tooth, as the law requires ; and so he should
sacrifice as many creatures as good as we, for ever. His obedience, as Adam s righteousness, could not extend to many, for that was a favour, but
this a debt ; whom also, for his obedience (if he did it for his sake, or else he would not accept it), he could never reward, because they were to suffer
eternally.
Thirdly, If we grant all this, yet what creature could have so much love in it towards us, as to sacrifice itself willingly ? Which it must fully do, for nolenti fit wjuria in this case ; so it cannot be satisfaction ; Satis-
factio est redditio voluntaria, say the schools. Rom. v. 7, Peradventure, for a good man some would dare to die. Mark it, he makes a peradventure of it, and it must be for a good man, that is, one
* profitable to him, as they expound it, and death is pwCsgwv pCfglrvtt*r, he must be
hardy, and dare well, that would do it ; but to encounter God s wrath, who dare do it ? Jer. xxx. 21, making there a promise of Christ to be a mediator, one that should be able to draw nigh to them, he gives this reason, For who is there that engageth his heart to draw nigh to me ? As if he had
said, None else, none else durst have stepped in and encountered me for you. Especially not for enemies both to God and them. They need a mediator to reconcile us and them, as that place, Eph. i. 10, of reconciling all in heaven and earth, To gather together in one all things in heaven and
earth, make us as friends to him, so one to another. The holier they were, the less they must needs love us.
Fourthly, If any had so much love, and would be so hardy to venture, as Paul had a wish to be accursed, yet if they were in hell half an hour, they would repent them and wish themselves out again. And so it had been
spoiled for being satisfaction ; it must throughout be voluntary, as our dis obedience was.
Fifthly, Suppose all this, yet this would do no more than barely take away sins ; but though no more is mentioned, yet more is meant ; to con
vey righteousness also : He must be made sin, that we may be made right eousness, 2 Cor. v. 21, to bring us into favour, and make us graciously accepted. And so I am sure it was not possible they should ; for they have none to spare, none to lend ; if they were a grain lighter they would be found too light, and their kingdom would depart from them, and they be
stripped of happiness. They need confirmation in their estate themselves;
it is well they keep their own standing, that their heels be not tripped up. In Mat. xxv. 8, 9, when the foolish virgins asked for oil of the wise, they answered, they had little enough for themselves ; all they can do in obe dience to the law, they owe it. How can one debt be paid with another ? They for whom we were to be received to favour were to be much more beloved and in favour with him.
And if it be said we should have had benefit by Adam s righteousness, if he had stood, by the same covenant by which we have sin from him,
I answer, first, only the benefit of confirmation in that estate, not of jus
tification, that should have been our own ; both now we are to have.
Secondly, I answer, that to convey righteousness to them who have been
494 THE ONE SACRIFICE. [HEB. X. 47.
sinners is much more, which then we were not ; for now it must be done
per modwn meriti et satisfactionis, then only as a means appointed to con
vey that which God, out of his goodness, meant to bestow.
But, last of all, suppose all this possible. Yet there is a further reason
in the text, Tu noluisti, non approbatti. Now to satisfy for another, espe
cially in corporal punishments, requires the consent of the party to be satis
fied, because quando aliud offertur quam est in obligations, est satisfactio recu-
sabilis, as the satisfaction of another is another thing than the law men
tions or ties itself to admit. When Ahab offered Naboth as good a vine
yard as his own, yet he might refuse it, as he did ; much more God. Yea, the satisfaction of Christ necessarily required God s decree, and consent to
it, as I shall shew afterward. As they err who say he could not pardon without satisfaction, so they that say, as papists do, that he could not but
pardon, the compact not supposed, and in regard of that decree, it was im
possible anything should. And, therefore, says Christ, Father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass ; had it been possible he had been heard, but it
did not pass.
And therefore he would not trust their help in so weighty a business, wherein his will was so engaged ; Job iv. 18, Behold he puts no trust in
his servants ; though in ordinary works of obedience he might, yet he will never rely on them for so great a matter. He finds folly in the angels, they are mutable ; he trusted one man for all only in matter of obedience
to his law, which was easy and sweet to him ; and see how he failed and
lost all upon no great or strange temptation. He will never hazard a second Adam to be a mere creature, in a matter of punishment, which, to be willing ever to undergo, must be fed with some delight or hope of ease ; he will make sure work now.
Therefore, what if, as in making his promises, as it is said, Heb. vi. 17,
* God being willing more abundantly to shew to the heirs of salvation, con
firmed it by an oath ; which puts an end to all controversies, ver. 16,
* And because he can swear by no greater he will swear by himself ; say I
in this, what if God, ex abundanti (upon supposition that other means
could have done it), yet out of abundance of love to us, whom he thinks he can never love enough, nor to shew his love do too much for ; what if he means to give his Son because he cannot give a greater ? And indeed it is he ; In the volume of thy book it is written of me. And so in giving his * he attains to give the greatest instance of his love and justice. Love, in that not only he is content to commute the punish ment, but lay it on his Son. Justice, that he will not only punish sin in
us, but even in him, spared not his own Son, Kom. viii. 31, and so make sure work indeed, put an end to all suppositions, fears, yea possibi
lity of miscarriage. A way to accommodate all so fully, as all conveniences requisite to this work should concur, yea, abound, exceed, in his alone mediation.
Only for the present you may see all the former cases and difficulties that were put in the mediation of the creatures now vanish and dissolve.
For he is able fully to make amends for sin, and the injury thereof, aggra vate it to the highest. Consider who it is ; it is his Son. Is sin the breach
* the essential Word of his Father, John i. 1. The other but the word of his will; he made the law and
of the holy law of God ? He is more,
gave it, Gal. iii. 19. And if he will vouchsafe to be made under it, as
Gal. iv. 4, this makes amends for all.
< his Sou ? ED.
* Qu.
HEB. X. 4-7. J THE ONE SACRIFICE. 495
Is sin a defacer of the manifestation of God s glory, and goes about to
rob him of it ? He is more ; not the reflection of his glory only, but the
brightness of his glory, Heb. i. 3. If, therefore, he will be content to lay down this glory, and come in the form of a servant, and make himself of no reputation, as Phil. ii. 7, as he did ; John xvii. 5,
* Glorify me now
with the glory I had with thee, before the world was ; it was eclipsed, shut up in a dark lantern, as it were ; will not this make amends ? Doth sin seek God s life ? If he now, that hath a life equal unto God s, as John v. 26 it is said, he hath the same life with his Father, and thinks
it no robbery to be equal with him ; Phil. ii. 6, if he will become obe
dient to death, as it is ver. 8 ; doth not this make amends ? Neither
shall he lay down what is another s as the creature s. I have power to lay down my life, John x. 18.
Is it God s wrath and the pangs of death are to be encountered with ? He dares do it; Jer. xxx. 21, He shall draw near to me when none else
can.
And will he be overcome with it, and so always asatisfying ? No ; the
* Wherewith it was impos sible he should be held; he will be able to say in the end,
pangs of death cannot hold him : Acts ii. 24,
* It is finished. Or will his satisfaction serve but for one ? Yes, for worlds ; Rom v.
17-19, he is able to bring in such abundance of righteousness as shall abound to many.
And for bringing us into favour, and adopting us sons, and conveying
righteousness, who better than he who is the natural Son of God, the beloved Son of God, in whom all the beams of that love which are dis
persed to all creatures are concentred, as the beams of the sun in a burn
ing-glass.
Two things yet remain, which must necessarily concur to this business to make it satisfaction. That both God the Father and Christ be willing, and
fully willing, that thus it should be accomplished. Necessary it was that God the Father should be willing, and call him to it ; for he was the person unto whom the satisfaction was to be made in the name of the rest, as I
said before. It being by commutation, which in such a case depends as much upon the will, acceptation, and consent of the party wronged to make
it satisfaction, as on the worth of the thing restored, be it never so full and
equivalent to the wrong, yet it is not satisfaction, unless he be willing to
accept it for another, because it satisfies not him. Quando alind offertur, quam est in obligatione, est satisfactio recusabilis. Should Christ do all this never so fully and freely, unless the Father s will and call concur to it, he
might refuse it, condemn it notwithstanding, and say, Who required this
at your hands ? And therefore, Heb. x., the verse following my text, he
ascribes as much to the will of God accepting it, as to the merit of Christ s
death, to make all effectual to sanctify us. Through the which will we
are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Christ.
Yea, he must be more than willing ; he must call his Son to it, and be the first mover of it to him to undertake it ; for besides that ye heard
before that the Father is the first mover in all, so in this ; it is an office
of priesthood, Heb. v. 4, 5, and even Christ himself must be called to it, as well as Aaron, says the text there.
And if so, then here comes in the greatest difficulty of all the rest. A
difficulty it was to find out a way ; when that was done, a greater to find out a person so fully fitted as might do it ; and such difficulty, as if it had been referred to men or angels, all their wisdom could not have found it
496 THE ONE SACRIFICE. [HfiB. X. 4-7.
out unto eternity. Adam knew none, for he stood by trembling, thought God would have flown at him. The devil knew none, thought all sure, and
therefore tempted man. The good angels learned it of the church, Eph.
iii. 10. God, you see, set his depths of wisdom a-work to find out one in whom all might be accommodated. But the finding out of the person hath
brought out a greater with it ; for if none but he who was his Son could do
it, and he, though a Son, yet if he become a surety, justice would not have spared, Eom. viii. 30, bated nothing, without blood no remission ; and not the best blood of his body would serve, but of his soul too ; he must bear our sorrows, Isa. liii. 4. Pay God in the same coin we should, and therefore must
* make his soul an offering, ver. 10. If he be made
sin, he must be made a curse ; and which is more than all this, God him
self must be the executioner, and his own Son the whipping stock. No
creature could strike a stroke hard enough to make it satisfaction. Many a tender mother hath not the heart to see her child whipped, much less to
whip it herself, though for its own profit and good when it is in fault. But God must put his Son to grief, Isa. liii. You heard at first, God s will was strongly set upon this resolution of
taking sins away ; and so it might be, and more strongly than ever on any thing else ; but yet not upon such terms as these ; he might be glad to see it
done, but not to cost too dear. The business is at a stand here, and like
to be clean dashed. We that are poor, shallow-headed, strait-hearted
creatures, might well think so.
To find out the person and way to accomplish it drew but out the depths of his wisdom ; but now, if it go forward, it will draw out the depths of his
love. It cost him but his thoughts before, now it must cost him his Son, the Son of his love ; and if it were to sacrifice worlds for us he could easily create millions, and destroy them again. But what ? To sacrifice his Son ? What ? To be the first propounder and contriver of so harsh a
motion, as it may seem to be unto him ? this is more. The text (to go no further) rids us of this also, and plainly tells us he did all this : In thy book it is written of me, says Christ, that I should do thy will. He is not willing only, but the first decreer of it : It is written of me.
Written, where? If you will have what I think, we find the very words
recorded, Heb. v. 6, which place shews how God the Father called him to it, and how he that said unto him, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee, says in another place, Thou art a priest after the order of Melchi-
sedec. The Holy Ghost brings in both these and joins them both together, as concurring in this call, and brings in the first as the argument and motive God used to him when he moved him: He that says, Thou art my Son,
says also, Thou art a priest. He was his Father, and so had power to
appoint his Son his calling (as other parents have) ; he appoints him to be a priest ; and therefore he tells him that he is his Son, and he begat him. He woos him, as he was his Son, to take it upon him. He calls him in
deed, and speaks as if he meant not to be denied. In the highest language of a father he useth his interest with him, mentioneth the deepest obliga
tion, and he notes out the time, it was his birthday. This day have I
begotten thee. As parents often dedicate their children when first born
to such or such a calling, as Hannah did Samuel to the priesthood, so doth God his Son. Yea, he lays his command on him, John x. 18, though the other mentions the most commanding argument and relation of all other.
All obedience and authority is held forth in such a speech. Yea, and yet
HEB. X. 4-7.] THE ONE SACKIFICE. 497
to shew more vehemency and earnestness he adds an oath to it. He swore he should be a priest, Heb. vii. 21, and when he has done, records it : It
is written of me, and that ev xspaXidi rov B/CX/ ou, in the first page of the book of his decrees ; yea, and puts his seal to it : Him hath God the Father sealed, John vi. 27. God the Father, you see, is willing, and fully
willing, hath done all that lies in him, and yet no more than was necessarily
required to this work ; as was in part before, and may be further observed, out of Heb. x. 10, wherein he says, We are sanctified through this will,
through the offering of the body of Christ, having reference to this will of
calling him here in the text, without which Christ s offering had not been
satisfactory, nor of force to sanctify.
Now then, the second thing remains, how the motion takes with Christ, which his Father makes to him, which was as necessary as the former. For besides that, it could not have been forced on him ; for, John v. 26, the Father had given him life in himself, and so to have power over his life : John
x. 18, I have power over my life, and none can take it from me. I say
besides, that if it come not off freely, it had not been satisfactory ; satisfactio
est redditio voluntaria. Our disobedience was free, so must his satisfaction
* a free will offering of himself. God stands more upon the will than the deed ; as a kindness is spoiled in the doing if it be unwillingly done, so would his satisfaction be. This therefore is another difficulty, and but that
be,
his Father struck in so, likely to have been greater than the former. Though he had at last yielded, yet if he sticks at it we are undone ; if he makes but one objection, we perish. And is it not infinite love that he should not, being the party to undergo so much debasement ? How did the
eldest son s stomach rise when but the fatted calf was killed for the prodi
gal ? But he, the eldest, only begotten Son, must sacrifice himself (worlds would not serve, whereof he could have created enough) for enemies. But not a thought arose contrary to his Father s will. So his own words in the
* Lo, I come to do thy will, God. The psalm, out of which the words are borrowed, Ps. xl. 8, hath it,
text shew,
* I delight to do thy will ; as the sun rejoiceth to run his race, so the Sun of righteousness, for he was anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows, Ps. xlv. 7. As glad as ever he was to eat his meat : John iv. 34, With desire have I desired it,
yea, and longed as much pain* as ever woman with child longed to be de
livered, Luke xii. 50.
It was well for us that his Father struck in thus strongly in the business
itself. You know how unwelcome it must needs be to him : Father, if it
it be possible. But yet, because it was his will, he submits, Not my will, but thine be done. As it was his Father s will, he had no reluctancy. Neither would simply all our cries or mediations have ever moved him, no more than straws could have moved a mountain. But that it was his Father s
will, it was enough. For besides that, John x. 30, I and my Father are
one, and so have one will, and agree in one; but especially seeing he en
treats him, the Father resolves to hear him in all things ; and should not
his Father ? especially when the request is made upon his birthday,
* This day have I begotten thee, when all requests used to be granted, as Herod, to the half of my kingdom. What ? And as he was his Father, and he his Son, this overcame him, John x. 17, 18. Though he had life
in his own hand, yet, says he, I laid it down because the Father loves me;
surely if he be so earnest, he could not deny him, especially when he added a command to it. This is the reason he likewise gives
: John x. 18, 19, * Qu. longed as much for pain ? or longed with as much pain ? ED. TOL. V. 1 i
498 THE ONE SACKIFICE. [HEB. X. 4-7.
I have power to lay down my life ; and this command have I received of my Father. His Father had power (as other fathers have) to dispose of the
calling of his Son., And though he was so great a Son, equal to so great a Father, yet being a Son, he is not exempted from obedience, Phil. ii. 8, Heb. v. 8. And when his Father shall add an oath also, that is an end
of all controversies between man and man, much more between father and
son, Heb. vi. 18. And last of all, he set his seal to it. It must stand
good, for his seal to it shews there is no breaking it, 2 Tim. ii. 29.
All these made him fully willing, which is therefore to be in a special manner taken notice, that we may consider for whose sake principally Christ did die and undertake it, and see to whom we are so much beholden, though he did it out of love to us, yet chiefly for his Father s entreaty and command, and out of love to him. So Christ says, John xiv. 81, That
the world may know that I love the Father, and that as he gave me com mandment, so do I. He speaks this then when he was to go to suffer :
Arise, let us go hence. And now he is engaged, there is no fear of
miscarriage or unfaithfulness. He being God, our salvation, we see, is in
sure hands, though it were yet to perform. The first part of the story and
text is done.
RECONCILIATION BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST.
RECONCILIATION BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST,
A SERMON.
And (having made peace through the blood of his cross) by him to reconcile all
things unto himself ; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or
things in heaven. COL. I. 20.
THAT God was, in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, is the sum of, and the theme which the gospel dilates upon, 2 Cor. v. 19 ; and the title
the apostle gives therefore to the doctrine of the gospel is, The word of
reconciliation, to wit, that God was in Christ, &c. ; that is, that God the Father had from everlasting made this his special business, which he hath
* all things are
plotted, and been desirous to bring about ; and that though
of him, ver. 18, yet this above all the rest. And that God the Father hath
appointed Christ as the means to accomplish it, with full satisfaction made
* God was in Christ, &c. God the Father s part I have already handled out of another scripture, more proper to that argument, and how far it was advanced by him.
to his justice.
First, By taking up a strong and unalterable resolution, to gather in one
the sons of men, scattered from him, Eph. i. 9, 10. It is declared to be
the mystery of his will, which he purposed in himself, according to his
* it pleased him. It had been
good pleasure ; and as this text tells us,
his full meaning, his everlasting intent and purpose, yea, a matter of the
greatest delight to him ; as Jer. ix. 24, shewing mercy, on the earth, not in
hell, therein is my delight. This purpose was fed with delight, and there
fore vanished not. And the greater men are, the greater delights they use
to have ; and this being God s, must needs be a matter of infinite moment and consequence, his heart being in it so much, and he being set upon it.
Secondly, This purpose lay not idle in him, but set him a-work, his wisdom a-work, and out of those his infinite depths, found out and invented
a way and means of effecting our reconciliation, even the incarnation and
death of his own Son ; before the wound was given, provided a plaster and sufficient remedy to salve all again, which otherwise had been past
finding out. For we, who could never have found out a remedy for a cut
finger (had not God prescribed and appointed one), could much less for
this. It being a case of that difficulty, supposing his justice resolving to have full satisfaction ; which, as it passed all the creature s power to make, so it passed their skill and thoughts to find out how and by whom it might be effected. The devils, they could not imagine any way, no more for us
502 RECONCILIATION BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST. [CoL. I. 20.
than for themselves, and therefore tempted man, thinking him, when he had sinned, sure enough, and hell gates so strongly locked, that no art could find or make a key to open them, a power to break them open. And Adam, poor man ! he trembled, knew not which way to turn himself, and
thought God would have flown upon him presently. The good angels, they know it but by the church, Eph. iii. 10. In this strait aforehand God
set his depths a-work to find out one, in and by whom all this might be accommodated, and (to allude to Abraham s speech) provided himself a
sacrifice unknown to us.
Thirdly, It hath been shewn that he, to manifest his seriousness in it, called his Son to it ; whom,
Fourthly, We have shewn at his entreaty to have been fully willing, and undertook it.
I shall at this time, in handling of these words, give the second part of
this story ; and that is, to lay open Christ s part, in whom it now lies to be performed. And to this end I have chosen this text, which tells us
that all fulness dwells in him for the effecting of it. As, 1. A fulness of fitness.
2. Of abilities.
3. Of faithfulness.
4. Of righteousness, now it is performed. 5. Of acceptation of his person, and what he hath done.
6. A fulness of duration of the merit of what he hath done for ever.
1. First, He had fulness of fitness in him, being fitted so with such a
body as hath been described ; a fulness of fitness in his person, to be a mediator and reconciler for us.
Now the choice of a fit person, and his fitness, is more especially required and respected in a business of mediation than in anything else, avails as much as wisdom, power, or anything else ; for indeed it is the foundation
of all, and often for want of a fit person, the force of a mediation is ener
vated, and avails not, though other sufficiencies concur to effect it. Now to shew this peculiar fitness, A mediator, the apostle says, is a mediator not of one, but of two parties at least, Gal. iii. 20. The parties here, betwixt whom reconciliation is to be made, are God and man, 1 Tim. ii. 5. Why? Can you then have a fitter person than one
that is both God and man ? And such a person is Jesus Christ become, that he might be a fit mediator.
* There is, says the apostle,
* but one God, and but one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. There could be but one so fit a mediator. To this end, therefore, the apostle tells us, in Heb. ii. 16, that he took the seed of Abraham to himself,
s<m\afjavsrai, took our nature into one person with himself ; called there
* tabernacle, which God pitched, and not men, Heb. viii. 2, and
fore a
chap. ix. 11, not of this building, of the hands of men. Men must have no hand in it. For this is required to fit a mediator, or an umpire, Job
ix. 33, that he be able to lay his hand on both ; which phrase notes out,
(1.) That he be an indifferent person between both, ready to distribute with an equal hand, to both their due.
(2.) That he hath an interest, a hand, or prevailing stroke with both ; power to deal between both.
(3.) That he be fit to communicate to them, for the benefit of his media
tion else is vain. Now all these are in Christ, as thus fitted.
(1.) For the first, Heb. ii. 16, the apostle shewing how he took our
nature on him, not of angels ; in the 17th verse he gives this as the reason,
COL. I. 20. J EECONCILIATION BY THE BLOOD OF CHKIST. 503
It behoved him, &c. And why did it behove him ? That he might be
a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make re
conciliation for the sins of the people. That is, hereby he comes to be a
* It behoved him, wps/Xs, which notes out fitness. And why fit ? The words shew, there were two parties whose cause was
fit, meet high priest.
to be committed to him, God and the people s. There were things per
taining to God, who was the party wronged, by the sins of the people ; and
there was reconciliation or atonement for their sins to be made. God, he was to have his due, though they had reconciliation ; therefore, in regard of the things pertaining to God, faithfulness was required ; in regard of
things pertaining to the people, mercy. If he had been only man, he might have ended it with detriment and wrong to God.
That therefore he might be faithful to him, it was fit he should be God, and so tender of his cause, that he might see such a satisfaction first should be made as was his due, and what pertained to him ; for God put all the
glory of his justice into his hand. He had need be God who had such a
trust committed him ; God would not trust a mere man again. And, secondly, he had our souls and salvation committed also to him ; and therefore it was behoveful for us that he should be man, to be merciful and pitiful to us ; that he might be sensible of the pains human nature was
to be put to, and so, out of experimental kindly pity, moved to make an atonement.
(2.) Secondly, Hereby he was one that was peculiarly fit. to deal with
both, and to have a hand and stroke in both, and both with him.
For now, as Zech. xiii. 7, he is become the man, God s fellow ; and so, more than man. He had not else been meet to deal with God ; it had been
robbery in a mere man to have arrogated such an equality, which yet was
not in him, Phil, ii ; for as God says, Jer. xxx. 21, who but he could draw
nigh to me, so near as thus, to mediate ? Who durst attempt, or presume, or engage his heart to do it ? But him, being my fellow, I will cause to draw nigh unto me ; and there is no unfitness, no disparagement in it,
which, if he had been but a creature, would have been.
And, secondly, he being the man, God s fellow, we may draw nigh to
him, and he to us. For why, as in the same Jer. xxx. 2, he comes out
of the midst of us. So also, Heb. iv. 14, 15, see what a fit high priest, by this, he is made for us, so as we may boldly draw near, ver. 16, to the
throne of grace ; that is, seeing we have a great high priest, not simply a
high priest, but a great high priest, no less than Jesus, the Son of God, who may draw nigh to God for us.
But you might say, This is too high a priest, too great for us to draw
nigh to ; therefore he adds, But yet he is not an high priest which can
not be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, that is, is a man as we
are, and therefore subject to the same feeling of pain and miseries, which
(as God) he is not ; and therefore we may come boldly to him and make
our moan, &c., as in the 16th verse.
(3.) And, thirdly (which is a reason beyond all this), by this peculiar fitness of his, he is fitted to communicate the benefit of his mediation to us, which without it he had not done ; and therefore this fitness of his is a
matter of great consequence and moment.
Now the benefit we were to receive by his mediation, was to have right eousness from him, so as to appear in God s sight without sin, and so to be
brought into favour, and that so great as to be the sons of God. Now, in
that the Son of God took our nature, he was fitted to do this ; for,
504 RECONCILIATION BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST. [CoL. I. 20.
That we might have his righteousness communicated to us, it was fit that our nature should be a fountain or cistern of it first, else what peculiar claim could we make to it more than other creatures? Heb. ii. 11. this reason is
* He that sanctifieth, and they that are sanctified, are one, that is,
given,
i Ivog, ejusdem natures. Had they not been so, he could not so fitly have been made righteousness and sanctification to us ; and therefore (says he, John xvii. 19), For their sakes sanctify I myself, that is, my human
nature, which he calls himself, as one person with himself, for his Deity was
sanctified from everlasting that they might be sanctified, that is, par takers of the same righteousness that I have. And this is one reason he
gives in Heb. ii. why, upsiXs, it behoved him, ver. 10, that so he might
sanctify us, by first sanctifying our nature ; for it was fit that that nature which had sinned should be sanctified, to condemn sin in the flesh, as the
apostle reasons, Rom. viii., and so now it is fitly imputed to us, as done
for us ; and therefore a redeemer in the old law was to be a kinsman, he had right of redeeming only, Lev. xxv. 25 and Ruth iv. 4-7, and therefore the Hebrew word God signifieth a redeemer and a kinsman. And Christ
therefore, that he might have right of redeeming and sanctifying, and they a right in his redemption, it was fit they should partake of one. Where
* Forasmuch as the children were partakers of flesh and blood, &c., he also, that so he might be of a kindred to them, and
fore, ver. 14 of Heb ii.,
rightfully call them brethren, ver. 11, and to make them sons of God, as himself was, John i. 12. And hence now, by reason of the want of this very fitness, the benefit of
his mediation, so as to convey righteousness, is not intended to angels ; and
therefore it is exclusively added, ver. 16, He took not on him the nature
of angels ; they had not this benefit by it, because not their nature. So as
this fitness is a thing God much looked at and respected ; for though of never so great a value in itself, yet doth good but to those for whom he was then so properly and peculiarly a fit mediator, namely, men.
In a word, take this for a sure rule, that though the intention of the
merits of Christ did arise from his sufficiency and abilities to mediate, yet the extension from his proper fitness ; and therefore to none but as* men, whose nature he partook of.
First, We see he hath fulness of fitness in him ; let us now see if he hath
fulness of abilities and sufficiencies in him for this great work, which is a
distinct thing from the former ; for in the old law the next akin was always most fit to redeem, but it may be not always able.
2. Secondly, Christ hath a fulness of ability to effect this great business, to make a perfect mediation every way satisfactory. And surely if he hath
all fulness in him to this end (as in Col. i. 19), he therefore wants no ability and sufficiency hereunto to make a perfect saviour, as he is called, Heb. v. 9. And this may be demonstrated from what went before.
For, first, God called him to this great work. Now, if he had not been
fully able to undertake and go through with it, God would never have
pitched upon him. Men may call one to a place who may prove insufficient, because they often know not what men s abilities are when they call, neither can they give abilities by calling ; but God calls none but he knows their
sufficiency already, or in calling makes them such.
Now, God knowing Christ s sufficiency, called him to it, Ps. xlv. 7. Because he hated iniquity and loved righteousness, therefore he anointed him to be a head ; because he was therefore able to fulfil all righteousness,
* Qu. us ? ED.
COL. I. 20.J RECONCILIATION BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST. 505
and not to sin ; that is, he was armed with power to execute the office of
priesthood for ever, and overcome all difficulties ; and therefore he is said
to have been made a priest, with power of an endleas life, and not after the
law of a carnal commandment, as other priests were. Iheir office, he says, was weak, and not able to bring things to perfection, as it was not able to