qui eken his Juftice to execute the threatning, For he Chap. V. ofpurer eyes than to behold Iniquity. As Goodnefs is the w1J effential obje& of his Will, which he lovesunchange- Habak. x. ably wherever it is, fo is sin the eternal obje& ofhis hatred, and where 'tis found in the love of it, renders the fubjeét odious to him. He will not take the wicked 8. @o.' by the hand. The Lawof contrariety forbids Purity ait.[TJV7; and Pollution to mix together. And the veracity of a aé d£ _ God requir'd the infliEting the punifhment. For the ,r£, plat, Law being a Declaration of God's will, according to which He would difpenfe Rewards and Punifhments, either it muff be executed upon the Offender, or if extraordinarily difpens'd with, it mutt be upon fuch terms, as thehonourof Gods.Truth may be preferv'd. This feeming conflict was between the Attributes. The fish/if-40 Spirits in Heaven were at a log how to unravel the difficulty, and to find out the miraculous way to reconcile infinite Mercywith inflexibleJuftice 5 how to fatisfie the demands of the one, and the re- quells of the other. God was to overcome Himfelf before He reftored Man. In this exigence his Mercy excited his Wifdom to interpofe as an Arbiter, which in theTreafures of its incomprehenfble Light, found out an admirable expedient to JiveMan, without pre- judice to his other Perfections : That was by confti- tuting a Mediator both able and willing, between the guilty creature and Himfelf : That by transferring the punilhment on the Surety, he might punifhSin, and pardon the sinner. And here, the more fevereand rigo- rous Juftice is, the more admirable is the Mercy that Eaves. In the fame ftupendious Sacrifice he declared his refpect to Juftice, and hisdelight in Mercy. The two principal relations of our Redeemer are, the one of a gift fromGod to man, the other of an oblation for men to God. By theone God fatisfies his infinite L 2 Love ítt Cantrabfng nan's rebanipíi011. 75
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