on the Lord's Prayer. and Value tO Counterbalance our Sins, that the Defeas of them add to the number of our other Tranfgreffions, they cannot all of them make one Blot in the Book ofGod's Remembrance but may well make more Items there again!! us. . Had it been poffible tor Men to ha~e quitted Scoreswith Divine J uftice by what they. could do. or fuffer Heaven would not have been fo needlefly lavifh as to fend Chrift into the World to lead an af!lit\ed Life, and to die an accurfed Death, only for our Redemption and Salvation. . Secondly, The Pardoning Grace ofGod is not free in Refpet\ 6fChrift, but it coft him the Price of Blood. It is the Blood of the Lamb Slain from the Foundation ofrhe World that cro!feth of the Debt-book; Wirhoutjbedding /Jioodtlwe i< no ,Remijjion faySthe Apoj11e, Heb.g. 22. And this is myBioodwbichwas jbedfor tbe Remijjion of Si~s, Matt h. 26. 28. And although poffibly God might according to his abfolute Sovereignty have freely remitted al~ the Sinsoftl!e World, without_ any kin~ of Satiffit\ion, only by a Free and Gracrous At\ of Mercy, yet confidertng that he had otherwife declared in his unaherable Word ofTruth, that there mull be a Recompence made him for all our Offences, it had been a Wrong to his Veraoity, if not to his 1u~ flie't; to ha~e ~ra~ted the Pa!doh ?f any one Sin withOut rhe lntervenrion of a full Price and SausfaEhon; no Sausfa(hon could b:! made conefpondenr to the Wrong done to an Infinite God, hut by an Infinite Perfon, who was God himfelf; for had the Perfonbeen Finite the Sbtferings mufr have been Eternal, otherwife they could not have been proportionable to the Offence? which reQuires an infinite Sarisf3.aion; bur if rhe Sufferings had been Eternal Satistaaion could never have been made, but would for ever have- been making unro the Juflice ofGod, and confequently our Sins: oould never have been Pardoned. And therefore God appointed ro this Work of reconciling himfelfto fallen Mao his only Begotten Son, God Co-equal and Co-eternat wlrh himfett; and every Way Infinite as himfelf, that he might be able to bear the whole Wrath of God at once, and at one Bitter Draught drink ofF the whole Cup-of Fury which we lliould have been draining by little Drops to all Eternity : So that Ju!lice being fatisfied in the Sufferings of Chti!!, for the Sins , ofthofe whofe Pertons and whofe Guilt, be fuftained uporl the Ctofs, Mercy hath now a Way ope~ed to Glorifie its Riches in tb'eir Pardon and Salvation. \. \ , . Thus in thefe Two Petitions it appears, that though the remitting of our Sins be aa A a ofGod's Free Grace and Mercy in refpea of us, yet it is ihe Effet\ of J:>urchafo in refpet\ of Chtift; God pardons Sins to them who committed them upon their Faith and Repentance, but he pardons not thofe very Sins to Chrift to whom they were imputed, but exat\ed Satisfaaion from him to the very utmoft Rigour of Jufticc; Hence it follows, ~ . Thirdly, That the Pardon ofSin is not only an At\ ofmeer Free Grace and Mercy hm according to the Terms of the Covenant ofGrace ic is alfo an Act of Jufiice i~ God. Indeed both Mercy and Jullice are concurtent in it; lot ftnce by the Union of Faith we are made one Myjlical Body w!th Chrift, it could nor confift with the Equity of God to punifh the Sins of Believers in their own Perfons; for this would be no orher than ro punifh them twice for tbc fame Offen,ce, once in their Surety and again in themfelves. J ' Now what abundant Caufe ofComfort may this be to all True Bel.ievers, that God's Juftice as well asMercy !hall acquit them; that that Attribute of God, at rho Apprehenfi on of which they were wont to tremble, fhould interpofe on their Behalf and plead for them. Yet through the All-fuflicient Expiation and Atonement that Ghri!! hath made for our Sins this Myllery is effet\ed, and Ju!lice irfelf brough> over from , being a formidable Adverfary to be of our Patty, and to plead for us. The.refore the Apoftle tells us, r John r. 9· That God rt Fatthful and Jujl to forgive us our Sins. An~St.~aul, 2 Theff. r. 6, 7• It is a Righteous Thing with God to r&tompence Tnbulatton to them that trouble you; and toyou who are troubled refl with us wbtn the Lord Jcfus Chrijl {hall be revealedfrom lieaven with his Mighty Angelt, ' Fourthly, When God pardonshedoth no longer account of us as Sinners. fndeed after Pardon we ftill retain finful and corrupt Natures ; and there is that Original Pollution in us that can never be totally diflodged in this Life . but yet when. God pardons he looks ~ot upon us nor ~s Sinners, bur as Jaft. The ftlalejaflor that IS legally dtfcharged, enher by Lltlsfymg the Law, or by his Prince's Grace and Favour towards him, is no more reputed a MalefoOor, bur as Ju!l and Righteous as tf he never had offended, So is it with us, we ate both Ways difcharged of Mmm 2 our
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