X. 11, 14, 17, 18. An earthly prince that is just, holds himself bound to iniiict punishment impartially upon the malefactor or his surety. It stands upon his honour ; he saith. It must be so, I cannot do other- wise. This is true much more of God, who is justice itself. God, ' who is great in counsel and excellent in working,' had store of means at hand whereby to set free and recover lost mankind ; yet he was pleased, in his infinite wisdom, to pitch upon this way of satisfaction, as being most agreeable to his holy nature, and most suitable to his high and sovereign ends — viz., man's salvation and his own glory: and that God doth stand upon full satisfaction, and will not forgive one sin without it, may be thus made evident.
[1.] First, From the nature of sin, which is that * abominable thing which God hates,' Jer. xliv. 4.1 The sinner deserves to die for his sins : Eom. vi. 23, ' The wages of sin is death.' Svery sinner is worthy of death ; ' they which commit such things are worthy of death,' Eom. i. 32. Now God is just and righteous. ' It is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you,' 2 Thes. i. 6 ; yea, and God did, therefore, ' set forth Christ to be a propitiation through faith in his blood,' Kom. iii. 25 ; 'to declare his righteousness, that he might be just,' ver. 26. Now, if God be a just and righteous God, then sin cannot absolutely escape unpunished ; for it is just with God to punish the sinner who is worthy of punishment ; and certainly God must deny himself if he will not be just, 2 Tim. ii. 13 ; but this he can never do. Sin is of an infinite guilt, and hath an infinite evil in the nature of it ; and therefore no person in heaven or earth, but that person our Lord Jesus, who is God-man, and who had an infinite dignity, could either procure the pardon of it, or make satisfaction for it. No prayers, no cries, no tears, no humblings, no repentings, no resolutions, no reformations, &c., can stop the course of justice, or procure the guilty sinner's pardon. It is Christ alone that can dissolve all obligations to punishment, and break all bonds and chains of guilt, and hand a pardon to us through his own blood, Eph. i. 7. We are set free by the blood of Christ. ' By the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit,' Zech. ix. 11 : it is by his blood that we are justified and saved from wrath : Rom. v. 9, 'Much more being justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath by him.' Pray tell me what is it to be justified but to be pardoned ; and what is it to be saved from %vrath but to be delivered from all punishment ? and both these depend upon the blood of Christ, Eph. ii. 13 ; Col. i. 20. But,
[2.] The veracity of God requires it. Look, as God cannot but be just, so he cannot but be true ; and if he cannot but be true, then he will make good the threatenings that are gone out his mouth: Gen. ii. 17, 'In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die : ' Heb. ' In dying, thou shalt die.' Death is a fall that came in by a fall, and without all peradventure every man should die the same day he was born, for ' the wages of sin is death,' and this wages should be presently paid, did not Christ reprieve poor sinners' lives for a season,^
' God could not, salvo jure, pass over the sin of man, so as absolutely to let it go un- punished. * Under the name of death are comprehended all other calamities, miseries, and sorrows.
OF THE IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST. 223
upon which account he is said to be the Saviour of all men, 1 Tim. iv. 10 ; not of eternal preservation, but of a temporal reservation. ' He will by no means clear the guilty,' Exod. xxxiv. 7. ' The soul that sinneth, it shall die ; ' ' The wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him,' Ezek. xviii. 20. ' He will render to every man according to his deeds,' Kom. ii. 6. 0 sirs, God can never so far yield as to abrogate his own law, and quietly to sit down with injury and loss to his own justice, himself having established a law, &c. The law pronounces him cursed that ' continues not in all things that are written therein, to do them,' Gal. iii. 10. Now, though the threatenings of men are frequently vain and frivolous, yet the threatenings of the great God shall certainly take place and have their accomplishment; though many ten thousand millions of sinners perish, not one tittle of the dreadful threatenings of God shall fail till all be fulfilled, Mat. v. 18. Josephus saith that from that very time that old Eli heard those terrible threatenings, that made their ears tingle and hearts tremble that heard them, Eli never ceased weeping, 1 Sam. iii. 11-14. Ah, who can look upon the dread- ful threatenings that are pointed against sinners all over the book of God, and not tremble and weep ! God cannot but in justice punish sinners ; neither is it in his choice or freedom whether he will damn the obstinate impenitent sinner or no. Look, as God cannot but love holiness wherever he sees it, so he cannot but loathe and punish wickedness wherever he beholds it ; neither wiU it stand with the in- finite wisdom of God to admit of a dispensation or relaxation of the threatenings without satisfaction. God had passed a peremptory doom, and made a solemn declaration of it in his word, that ' he that sinneth, shall die the death ; ' and he will not, he cannot break his word. You know he had foreordained Jesus Christ, and set him forth to take upon himself this burden, to become a propitiation for sin through his blood, Eom. iii. 25 ; 1 Pet. i. 20, and made known his mind concerning it in his written word plainly, Isa. liii. 7. If we read the words, ' it is exacted or strictly required,' meaning the ini- quity or punishment of us all, ver. 6.1 It is required at his hands, he must answer it in our stead, and so he is afflicted, and this affliction reacheth even to the cutting him off", ver. 8. Therefore when Christ puts this work upon an ought and must he, he lays the weight of all on the Scriptm-es, ' Thus it is written,' as you may see in the texts lately cited ; as if he should say, God hath spoken it, and his truth engageth him to see it done ; so God hath threatened to punish sin, and his truth engageth him to see it done. 0 sirs, there is no stand- ing before that God that is ' a consuming fire,' a just judge, a holy God, except I have one to ' undertake for me,' Heb. xii. 29, that is ' mighty to save,' Isa. Ixiii. 1, and mighty to satisfy divine justice, and mighty to pacify divine wrath, and mighty to bear the threaten- ings, and mighty to forgive sin. When God forgives sin, he does it in a way of righteousness, Isa. xix. 20. 1 John i. 9, 'He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unright- eousness.' He doth not say he is merciful, but 'just, to forgive us our sins ;' because they are satisfied for, and God's justice will not let him demand the same debt twice, of the surety and of the debtor too. It