[2.] Secondly, No parties ivhatsoever ivere prejudiced, or lost by it. We lost nothing by it, for we are saved by his death, and reconciled by his death ; and Christ lost nothing by it : ' Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and enter into his glory ? ' Luke xxiv. 26. ' The Captain of our salvation is made perfect through sufferings,' Heb. ii. 10. You may see Christ's glorious rewards for his sufferings in that Isa. liii. 10-12. And God the Father lost nothing by it, for he is glorified by it : 'I have glorified thee on earth, I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do,' John xvii. 4. Yea, he is fully satisfied and repaired again in all the honour which he lost by our sinning — I say he is now fully repaired again by the sufferings of Christ, in which he found a price sufficient, and a ransom, and enough to make peace for ever. In the day of account, a Christian's great plea is, that Christ has been his surety, and paid his debts, and made up his accounts for him.
II. Now, from what has been said last, a Christian may form up this second plea to the ten scriptures in the margin, i that refer either to the general judgment or to the particular judgment that wiU pass upon every Christian immediately after death. 0 blessed Lord! upon my first believing and closing with Jesus Christ, thou didst Justify me in the
1 Eccles. xi. 9, and xii. 14; Mat. xii. 36, and xviiL 23 ; Luke xvi. 2 ; Eom. xiv. 10, 12 ; 2 Cor. v. 10; Heb. ix. 27, and xiii, 17; 1 Pet, iv. 5.
OF THE ACTIVE OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST. 71
court of glory from all my sins, both as to guilt and punishment. Upon my first act of believing, thou didst pardon all my siiis, thou didst forgive all my iniquities, thou didst blot out all my transgressions; and as icpon my first believing thou didst give me the remission of all my sins, so upon my first believing thou didst free me from a state of condemnation, and interest me in the great salvation. Upon my first believing, I luas united to Jesus Christ, and I tvas clothed with the righteousness of Christ, lohich covered all my sins and discharged me from all my transgressions, Kom, viii. 10 ; Heb. ii. 3 ; and remember, 0 Lord, that at the very moment of my dissolution thou didst really, perfectly, universally, and finally forgive all my sins. Every debt that moment was disclmrged, and every score that moment tvas crossed, and every bill and bond that moment ivas cancelled, so tJmt there luas not left in the book of thy remembrance one sin, no, not the least sin, standing upon record against my soul ; and besides all this, thou knowest, 0 Lord, that all my sins were laid upon Christ my surety, IJeb. vii. 21, 22, and that he became responsible for them all. He did die, he did lay down his life, he did muke his soul an offering for my sins, he did become a curse, he did endure thy infinite ivrath, he did give complete satisfaction, and a full compensation unto thy justice for all my sins, debts, trespasses. This is my plea, 0 Lord ! and by this plea I shall stand. * Well,' saith the Lord, ' I allow of this plea, I accept of this plea as just, honourable, and righteous. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.' But,
Seventhly, Consider, that ivJiatever we are bound to do, or to suffer by the law of God, all that did Christ do and suffer for us, as being our surety and mediator. Now the law of God hath a double chal- lenge or demand upon us ; one is of active obedience, in fulfilling what it requires ; the other is of passive obedience, in sufiering that punish- ment which lies upon us, for the transgression of it, in doing what it forbids. For as we are created by God, we did owe unto him all obedience which he required ; and as we sinned against God, we did owe unto liim a suffering of all that punishment which he threatened, and we being fallen by transgression, can neither pay the one debt, nor yet the other ; we cannot do all that the law requires, nay of our- selves we can do nothing ; neither can we so suffer as to satisfy God in his justice wronged by us, or to recover ourselves into life and favour again ; and therefore Jesus Christ, who was God, made man, did be- come our surety, and stood in our stead or room ; and he did perform what we should but could not perform ; and he did bear our sins and our sorrows. He did suffer and bear for us what we ourselves should have borne and suffered, whereby he did fully satisfy the justice of God, and made our peace, and purchased life and happiness for us. Let me a little more clearly and fully open this great truth in these few particulars.
(1.) First, Jesus Christ did perform that active obedience unto the laio of God, which ive should, but, by 7'eason of sin, coidd not perform; in which respect he is said. Gal. iv. 4, ' to be made under the law, that he might redeem them that were under the law.' So far was Christ under the law, as to redeem them that were under the law. But redeem them that were under the law he could not, unless by dis-
72 OF THE ACTIVE OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST.
charging the bonds of the law in force upon us ; and all those bonds could not be, and were not discharged, unless a perfect righteousness had been presented on our behalf, who were under the law, to fulfil the law. Now there is a twofold righteousness necessary to the actual fulfilling of the law : one is an internal righteousness of the nature of man ; the other is an external righteousness of the life or works of man : both of these do the law require. The former, ' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,' &c., which is the sum of the first table ; ' And thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself/ which is the sum of the second table : the latter, * Do this and live,' Lev. xviii. 5, * He that continueth not in all things, which are written in the book of the law, to do them, is cursed,' Gal. iii. 10. Now both these righteousnesses were found in Christ. First,' the internal : Heb. vii. 26, * He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners ; Heb. ix. 14, ' And offered himself without spot to God ;' 2 Cor. v. 21, ' He knew no sin.' Secondly, external : 1 Peter ii. 22, ' He did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth ;' John xvii. 4, ' I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do ;' Mat. iii. 15, ' He must fulfil all righteousness,' Kom. x. 4; ' Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that belieVeth.' Now concerning Christ's active obedience to tLe law of God, these things are consider- able in it.