Chap. 34. An Expofitton upon the Book of 1 o B. Verf_17. 6 7_ a promife to forgive thofe who make fuch confeflìons of fin. And thus 'cis in any other promife ; he keepes his word, he keepes touch with man, he will not fayle nor come Chort in the leafl, therefore he is altogether jufl. Thirdly , He is jufl in the i ridlefl acception of juflice, giving every onehis due. It is poífible for a man tobe jufl in neither of the two former notions,hemay neither be vertuous in his adlions, nor a keeper of his word as a man,& yet he may be lull as a Magi- flrate, jut+as in a caufe committed to hisdetermination.But God is jufl in all there !three confiderations of a jufl man, and there- fore he is eminently, or altogether jufl. And I conceive, the lat- ter of the three is chiefely intended here ; God is moff that is, he never did, nor ever will, give anundue or an undeferved fentence uponany man. I might thew diflinfly, that God is jufl, and how jufl he is Firfl, in rewarding thole that doe well ; Secondly, in punifhing thofe that doe ill. And that becaufe he doth it ; Firft, bya law ; Secondly, by a law publifhed ; Thirdly , by a law pofirble ( our inability of keeping the law is confequentiall to the giving of it ; man bath drawne it upon himfelfe) though now he cannot per- forme it at all,yet God is jufl inpunifhing, becaufe he finsagamfl a law that he had a power (in his head or reprefentative) to have fullfilled. Fourthly, God is jufl,becaufe the penaltieswhich he infliaeth flow from à right and jufl law(as the Apoflle fpeaks, Rom: 7.12. ) The law is holy, and juft, andgood ; and therefore all the awards that are grounded upon it mull needs be jufl too. Fifthly, he punifheth jug ly, becaufe he never punifheth but upon proófe, and evidence ; yea he will makeevery mans Confcience a witnefs againflhimfelf, or condemne him out of his own mouth. Sixthly, he punifheth jutily, becaufe he punifheth impartially, neither feare, nor hope, nor favour, candivert him (Ifn: 27.11: yer: 22. 24.) Seventhly, he doth not only punifh in a proporti- on to the law, but often in a proportion to the fin , and that not only to the meafure of the fin , but to the manner of the fin ; as that cruel kingAdonibez,ek confeffed, when himfelfewas cruelly dealt with his thumbs and great toes being cut off, f'aedo: 1. 7. ) As Ihave donefoGod hath requited me : As if he had fayd, God is jufl not only becaufe he bath punifhed me in meafure ac- cording tomy fin, but after the very fame manner in which I fir, K k k k tied,
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=