~66 A PraElical Expofttion Truly none by .~ur own Perfonal SatisfatHon ; but ·yet there i:; abundant Hope, yea, full Affurance, of lt) through the Free Mercy of our God: Anti therefO r~:: as our SJviour hath taught us to acknQwledge our Ptbts, fO he bath likewife taught us to pray Father, forgive us our Debts. , And now tha~.I have the~ed you ?ur. Mifr:rY. by reafon of ~ur Dcbts1 and you have ften the Black. Stde of the Cloud whtch 1nterpoterh between God and u~; fa give me: leave to reprefem w you our Hopes and Confolation in God's Free GrJce and the Divine Mercy, in diifolving this Black Cloud, that it may never more app~:u. And here let us, Firit, Confider what the Pardon of Sin is. And this we cannot betrcr difcover than by looking into the Nature ~fSin. Sin therefor-e, as Sr. John defcribes it, 1 Jobn 3· 4· is a Tranfgrej}ion uf tbe Law ofGod. And to the validity of our Laws it is neceffary thatthere be a Penalty annexed, either literally expreG'd, or tacitly implied. The Guilt that we ccntraa by Tranfgre!Iing tile Law is nothing elfe but our liablenefs to undergo this Penalty. And this Guilt is Twofold, the lnninfical and Formal , and that is, the Defert of Punifhmenr, which Sin always neceffarily carries in ir, as it is a Violation ofa Holy and Righteous Commandmenr. The other is Extrinficaland Adven;;irious, and confifis in the Ap;'loin,tment a;;d Defignation of the Sinner unto Punifhmenr. This nowdorh nor formaUy How from Sin but fiomthe Will ofGod, conllituring and willing to pun1lh Sin with Death. ' Now Pardon is nothing elfe but the Removal of the Guilt of Sin. But now the Quefl:ion is which Guilt it removeth. I Anfwer, Firft, le dorhnot remove ~he Intrinfical Guilt of Sin, or the Defert of PunHhmcnr. For the Sinsofrhofe who are Juftified and Pardoned do ye~ in their own Nature ' deferve Death and Eternal DJmnation. As a Pardon vouchfafed to a Traitor doth not caufe his Aaions not to have been Treafonable, and Worthy of Dt:ath; for this doth necelfarily follow immediately upon the Tranfgreffing of the Law to which the Penalty is annexed. So neither is it in the Power of Pardoning GrJcc to make that our Sinsfhould not deferve Death, according to their own Demerit, for that were a ContradiS:ion, fince this Demerit is necefl:uy and elfcntial mito Sin as fuch. Secondly, TherefOre Pardon of Sin removes that Guilt which contlns in the adventitious Appointment or Ordination of the Sinner unto Punifhment, Hawing from the WiU ofGod, who bath in his Law rhreatned to inftia Eternal DeJth as the Keward and Wages ofSin. Now thisDcfignation of the Sinner unto Punifhment is TwofOld, either Pcrfcmal or 'Myflical. One of thefe Two Ways God will cerrainly punHh every Soul that fins, either by appointing the Sinner Perfonally to uodergo tbe Pu· nilhmem of his Iniquities ; and thus he deals with Unbelievers, whom he will puni(h in their own Perfons for their Tranfgrefiions: Or elfe he appoints them to un· U.ergo the Punifhment of their Sins Myftically, as being by Faith made one with the Lord Jefus Chrifi, who himfelf bath borne our Sins in his own Body on the Tree. Now Pardon of ~in doth not remove the Jl1;1lical Appointment of a Believer untO Punifhmenr, for he bath fuftered it, for Chrifl bath fuffered ir, and Chrift and he are one MyfticalPerfon by Faith. God never Pardons but he likewife punifhes the very Sin that he Pardons; be punifheth it in our Surety and Undertaker when he fOrgives it to a Believer. Pardon of Sin therefore removes only that Guilt which contifts in our own PedOnal ~_ppoirument and Defignationto Punifhment, tho' the Sin cloth al· ways in itfdf neceifarily defer \re Death, though that Death bath been inftitled upon Chrift, "and therefo re upon Believers in him> as Members of him•. But yet notwithftanding that God rhus takes Vengeance on our Sms, he doth 6ra~ cioufly Pardon them when he releafeth our Perfonal Obligation unto Punifhment;. and reckons that we havt: {Ufl:~red the Penalty in ChrHt fi:JfFering ir, and therefOre ought to be difcharged from any farther liablenefs unto ir. . This now is that Pardon of Sin which we pray for when we fdy, Forg1veusour Debts. And for the mote full Explication of it I [hall lay down thefe following Pofitions. firft The Pardoning Grace of God in RefpeEl of us is altogether Free and Undc· ferved.' We can of ourfdves fcarce fa much as ask ForgivenefS; but even this comes from the Grace of God, therefore much lefs can we do any Thing to meric it. Far be ic from us to affi1m, as the Pnpifls do, tharGood Works proceeding from Grace are Meritorious of Pardon and Salvation. Alas, whJt are our Prayers, our Sighs, our Tea!s· yea~ our very Blood, fhould we. tpe~d it for Chri_ft ~ .They are but poor impcrltt\ Tbr ·Jgs, and are fo far from havmg m them any mfimte wo;~~
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