Hopkins - HP BR75 .H65 1710

Recommended frrJm Phi!. 2. 12, 13· 597 lieve in him, Jgi'flt unto them Etmt~t!Li[e, fays _he himfelf, ro the 'Jewt. And fays f~'~. 10 , the Apoll:le, He is the Author of tternal St!l".Jtttton to them that Obt} him. Now as 2.8. r::herc arc two things that muft be done for us before we could be brought unro a Hcb. ~· 9· fi:atc of Salvation, namely a freeing us from our liablenefs umo Death, and a be- fi:owing upon us a right unto Life Eternal: ~o jefus Chrifr, that he might bring us into this State hath performed both thefe thmgs for us. Firfl He bath fatisfied Divine Jufiice for us, fnatching us from under the Ven- geance 'of God, fubftituting himftlf in our room and fi:ead, bea ring the Load of all that Wrath and Punifhment that mul.l: otherwife have fallen in fupportably hea.. vy upon us. His Soul, fays the Prophe~, WaJ made 411 ~/foring for .Sin_ And He WaJ m . .,1. lO made fin for us, fays the Apoftle, that ts, he was pumfhed as a Stoner for us, Who 2 Cor. 5• knew no Sin. And, . ~J· S"ondly, !le hath perfcl\ly fulfilled the Commands of the Law by his aaive Ob e- dience, that the Life promifed by God in the Law to the doers of it, doth now un· doubtedly belong to all thofe for whom Chrift did obey the Law ; that is, for all thofe that believe in him. And by both thefe, bearing the· penalty of the Law, and fulfilling the Duties of the ~w, God is atoned, Juftlce is _fatisfied, Vengeanc~ is pacified, and ·we are Reconciled, Adapted, and made He1rs of Glory accordtng to the Promife. ' . Bur wh.ttt ? Sh11ll Glory tcnd Happinefl be prefently btjfo"!fed upon u.s 1 Shall we be irtflalltJ into it without any more Circumjlance·J Mufl nothing iurervene betwixt Chrift,s purchafe And •ur alJu11l pojJejJioN? Yes, that there muft. For, (21) Secondly, Chrift: h;uh purchafed Grace to be beft:owed upon them upon wl:lo m he beftows Salvation. When he Afcmded .,P on high he led Captivity Captive, and gave Eph. + w. Gifts uwto Men, and among others, efpecially the Gifts of Grace. For of his fulnefs, ]Qh. 1, 16 fays the Apoftle, have we aa received, and Grttce for Grace. And why did Chrifr make this purchafe? Why did he merit Grace for us? Was it bot that we might act it in Obedience? And if Chrift: merited Grace that we might Ob ey, is it fecfe to ObjeEf that our Obedience is derogatory to Chrift,s Merit? If one end of Chrift's doing all that he did for us, was to inable us to do for our felves, will any Man fay, now I am bound to do nothing; becaufe Chrift bath done all? How loft a re fuch Men both to Rcafon and Reli~;ion,- who undertake fo to argue? .N'o, Salv-ation was purchafed and Grace was procured, that by the acting and exercife of that Grace we might attain to that Salvation; and both thefe are to b e prefened en- tirely as things moft Sacred, afcribing them folely to the ~erits of our Saviour. So far are we from Exhorting Men to work out their Salvation by way of Merit and Purchafe, as that we conclude them guilty of the higheft Sacriledgc, and .pra.. <'lical Blafphemy againft the Prieftf.J Office of Jefus Chrilt, who think by their own works to Merit the one or the other•. And therefore though jefus Chrift bath done thus much for us, yet that he might leave us alfo fome wo rk to do, I fhall now !hew what he expeCts from us in order to the working out of our own Sal.. vation. And as he bath done two things for us, fo he requires two things from us. As, 1. Firft, He requires we fuould put forth all the Strength and Power of Nature in iabouring after Grace. And, II. Secondly, He requires that we fuould pot forth the power of Grace in labour~ ing for Salvation, purchafed for us. (t.) Firft, He requires that all thofe who arc void of Grace fuould labour for 7'6./< th•i it with that Power and Strength that they have, and in fo doin g they do not at "e Vli4 of all intrench upon th1! Work of Chrift, neither is it at al1 deroga tory to his Me· f~4'efiuft rits. See how the Prophet e:x:prelfeth this, Ez.ekiel t3. Make you A new heArt and air. our :' new fpirit. He fpeaks to thofe that were in a ftatc of Nature, and he bids them Ezek. 18. mAke them "new heart and a new Spirit ; for why wiUyou die! Noting, that if they did 31. not labour after ;t new Heart and a new Spirit, they would certainly die the Death. Let every Sinner know that this is it that he is ca11ed upon for; this is that God expects from him, it is his Work to repent and return that he may live. It is his Work to labour to change his own Heart, and to renew his own Spirit : It is true, it is God,s Work alfo, for he bath promifed to give 1t new Heart and a uew Ezek, ra , Spirit, and it is Chrift's Work alfo as he is God, but yet .it is not Chri ft's Work ro, a$ a Modiator. And therefore to endeavour the working of a new Heart in us, is not ..

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