The Rejurreffion rif Chriff. Rom. 6. that Death is a Punilhment inflict:ed upon us for Sin : So fays rhe A poftlc . 1h '! Jj ~ .. Wagts of Sin is Death. And in anocher Place, BJ !'Jin Dentb ~nttr'd imo rheff.' -1/ •u )· I •• and De~ rh pa.IJ.lt! upon all,. buauft afl have jinnul. From ~11 which it follows, ~ha~ as ~hnft takmg ~pon h1m our Sms, beca?1e thehby hable ro Dr(J!b; 10 havin fausfied for our. Sms, and thereby freed_ Jumfelf from rhe Gu_ilt c~at he by un~ der by Impucauon, he wa~ no longer hable unro Death, whtch ts one part of the Punilhrnent he underwent; £0 char it could nor have been agrec<!h!e to infinite Juftice, that Chrift lhould have been holden of De~~th, who by his under- ·going of Death,hath fu~ained the who~e I:oad of God's i~finite Wnnh and Difpleafure, and fully famfied for all tbofe Sms that were Imputed eo him and therefore ought in jufiice to be acquitted from all Penalcies, and confeq~em!y from Death. . IV. Fourthly, It was imp~l]ible Chrifl jhould be holden of Death, in refpetl of his Office Chrifl of Medintorfl,ip: For having as our Mediator undertaken rhe defperace Serv ice of 'tf~:t {bringing finful and fallen Man w Life and Happinefs, he mufi of neceffiry nor ~e~:h mb;p only die, but rift 11_1.ain from the dead, without which his Death, and whatever cau[eo[his elfe he did or fuffer ed for us, would have been of no avail. There are t\Vo M;diahrp Things requifire, before any real or eternal Benefic can become ours. jblp. Firfl, A meritorious purchafe, procuring rhe Thing ic felf for us . ,Stc&ndly, An effectual Application of char Benefit w us. The Purchafe of Mercy was made by the Death of Cbrifl, by which a full Price was paid down ro theJufiice of God. Butthe effectual Application of Mercy is by the Dfe and R,. [urre[/ion of Chrifl. Wherefore if Chrift had only died, and noc rifen again . if he had not overcome Dearh wirhin 'its own Empire, and criumph'd over th~ Grave in ics own Ttrri •orio, it would have been ro his Difappoimmenc and not at all to our Salvation. The Lofs of Chrifl:'s Life would noc have proc~red Life for us; unlefsas he laid it down with Freedom,fa he had again re fumed it wirh l?'ower. Our hope of Salvation otherwife would have been buried in the fame Grave with himfclf; but what he died to procure,he lives to confer. Ir was Jg. Luke'+ norance of Chrift's RejUrreflion from the Dead, that fo fiagger'd the rwo DijCiplu, J6,1g,:o, g9ing toEmauJ : . They tell Chrifi himfelf a fad Story of one Je[tu of N azareth, 21 . that 'Was condemned and crucified, who, while he lived among us, by his. Word and Works teftified himfelf to be the trueMdfwh 'We little thought of his Dying; and when he told ,us of his Death, · he likewife foretold us of his Refurrelfirm rb, third D~J ; and behold, the thirdDay is already come,and yet is there no Appearance of thisjefus: Verily, we trujled that it had been he 1vhich jhould have redmmJ Ifrael ; but now our Hopes grow faim, and lanpuHh in us; for certainly there <;an be no Redemption for Jfrael by him who cannot redeem himfelf from Death, '],'here was nothing.in the World did fo much prejudice che Gofpel, and hinder ~,\1 i~s taking place in the Hearts of Heathem in the Primirjve Timu,as this of the Crofs ahd Death of Chrifl: ; for believing that he was lifted up upon the Croji, but not bel)eving that he wasraifed up from the Dead, they affenred eo their NatMral Reap fJn , w!Hch herein taught them, That it was Follytoexped: Life from him who cob.ld hot either preferve or refiore his own. • <. le is true, it w'as Folly thus eo hope, but that his Life applies what his Death de~ fe~ved; and our Salvation begun on rhe Crofs,is perfected on the Throne. And r Cor. t$. therefore the Apojllcrells us,ourFaich il}a crucified Saviour, and our O~edience '7· to· hi'm is all vain, if he had not rifen·'.-gain from the Dead: For unlefS he ha~ ·rifen frOm the Dead,b:e could not have acquitted us from the Guilt of Sin)becaule <he'cqt!ld nbt have ~een juftified himfe!f. We are juftified by the Righteouli1efs U Rom.4.1S'· C'fftift, asth:: Apojl!efpb~ks, in his Epifile to the Roman~; which Righteoufhefs he wl-6~~t our for 11?, l>ofh by his perfed; Obedience to che La\v, and by his Sub~ ffiiffi6ITtQ r~e Punifhmentofthe Law: Butyecchis Righreoufnefs could nor have a~n~a ·to our }uftificacion, had he not, after c~e Fulfilling of ic, ~ifen again from tBe-tlyad ; becaufe he himfelf had not been )Uftified, muchlels could we hare oeen•jnl\ified'by one wl\o could not have juftified hirnfe!f. And therefore we .r Tim. 3· Eefd, '6re4( tithe Myfterz of GDdlinefs, fays the Apoflle; God manifefte'd i11 the F1tf 1 , 16. iri his fncarnation; . jkjtifieJ in the Spirit, by his Refurretlion ; few of .An.~efs) m hi~ Afcenfion. Had he not been raifed and quickned by rhe Spirit,chat i~,by the gtoiic:Jtls Pbwer ofhiS Divine Nature, he had not been declared juft, nor could he · ~;t,e ju1\ified us: For this Dec!a;ation, that Chri!l was juft, was made upon~!;~
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=