· 'Trufl /or falvatlofl . . 31 3 fefiecl in the gofpel, as fuited to the divine perfetti· ons, and to the cafe of finhers, and their own in par– t icular, 1 Cor. i. 2. · ' We preach Chrii1: crucifi~d\ unto the Jews a .fiumbling·block, and unto the Gteeks foolifhnefs.' Ver.. 24. ' But unto ~hem which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Ghrifi, the power of God, and the wifdom of God.' Without this no ' man knowing what God is, what fin is, and what is t he worth of his own foul, will ever venture his fal– \Tation .upon i~ : but one's trufting his falvation to Chrifi and his righteoufnefs, fpeaks him to be well– pleafed therewith, as what one may fafely trufi to, even in the fight of a holy God. And this is that r ejoicing in Chri.fl Jefus, which makes an iUufirioilS piece of the believer's c~araCl:er, Philip. iii. 3· . "\Vithal, it bears three things, ( 1.) ' An eying of Chrifr, in this matter, as a crucified Saviour, who bath fulfilled all righteoufoefs, according to the .fiat· ed condition of the covenant, 1 Cor. ii. 2. lt is not Chrifr in the eternal glory he had with his 'Father, .before the world was, that fairh fixeth its view on, while the foul in ·this cafe frands trembling bef<?re a holy God; but Chrifr the Son of God made man, come in the flelh, being born · holy, leading a life . perfeCl:ly righteous:, and at lall: ?ying on the c_~ofs, to fatisfy the demands which ~he law had on poor fin– ners. It looks unto him lifted up on the c'rofs, as thefe who were bitten by the ferpents in the wilder· nefs, looked unto the. brazen ferpent lifted, up on the pole, Ifa. xlv. 22. Numb. xxi. 8. John iii. 14, 15. T.herefore 'tis called faith in his blood, Rom. iii~ 25 . his righteoufnefs, whereof the fuedding of his blood was the compleating part, being the fpring of the believer's hope. (2 .) A real perfwafion of the fuf... ficiency, of Chrifl's righ~eoufnefs to f.1ve finners, and us in particular, from fin and wrath ; to .anfwer for us before a holy juft God, in the eye of his holy law; ,and to procure for us eternal holinefs and happinefs . · There's
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