2. Now, to give you some reasons why this is the chief benefit, most eyed by Christ, and should be most regarded by us.
[1.] Christ's undertaking was principally for the glory of God : ' All the promises are in him, yea and amen, to the glory of God ;' and it should not be a question which should have the precedence, the glory of God or our good. Christ came to promote God's glory, and that must have the precedence of our benefit. Now, then, the abolishing the guilt of sin doth more directly respect our interest and good ; but the abolishing the power of sin, or the turning and cleansing the heart from it, doth more immediately respect the glory of God, and our sub- jection to God. Therefore Christ would not only pacify the wrath of God, but his chief work, that doth mostly concern the glory of God, was to heal our evil natures, and i)revcnt sin for the time to come.
[2.] To be turned from sin is to be freed from the greatest evil ; for pardon gives us an exemption from punishment, which is a natural evil, but conversion gives us freedom from our naughty hearts, which is a moral evil ; and, certainly, vice is worse than pain, and sin than misery. Besides, sin is the cause of all evil, and the taking away the cau.se is more than ceasing the effect.
[3.] This hath nearer connection with the life of glory. Pardon only removes the impediment, but the sanctifying and healing of our natures is the beginning of the life of glory, and introduction into it. Pardon removes our guilt, which hinders our happiness ; therefore, divines say, justification is gratia removcns ^rolubens, that that re- moves the impediment ; but the sanctifying the heart is an introduc- tion into our glorious state, and the more sanctified the more meet to be partakers thereof, Col. i. 12. Now that which doth positively make
Acts III. 26.] the third sermon. 201)
us capable of glory and happiness is a greater privilege than that which only removes the impediment.
[4.] That is the greatest benefit which makes us more amiable in the sight of God, and is the object of his delight. Now he delights in us as sanctified rather than pardoned. We love him, indeed, for pjirdoning and forgiving so great a debt : ' She loved much, because much was forgiven her;' but God delighteth in holiness, and the re- fiection and impress of his own image upon us : Prov. xi. 20, ' The upright in the way are his delight.' When the Spirit hath renewed us according to the image and nature of God, that makes us amiable in his sight, and an object of divine complacency ; therefore, surely this is the great privilege and blessing we have by the Mediator here in this world. I come to the fourth thing.
IV. In what way doth Christ turn us from our iniquities ?
1. He doth purchase this grace for us ; and —
2. He works it in us.
1. He purchaseth this grace for us that we may be turned : 1 Peter ii. 24, ' He bore our sins in his own body upon the tree, that we, being dead unto sin, should live unto righteousness.' That was his end, not oidy to lay the obligation upon us, but to procure the grace whereby we may be enabled to do so. This sacrifice was a truly propitiatory sacrifice, whereby God was appeased, and forfeited blessings restored. The loss of God's image was a great part of our punishment, and it is a part of our deliverance that Christ hath purchased this grace as well as pardon. He hath given himself for us, that he might cleanse us, and sanctify us, and make us a pure and holy people unto God, Eph. v. 25, 26.
2. As he hath purchased it for us, so he works it in us, partly by the power of his internal grace, and partly by blessing and sanctifying external means and helps for such an end and purpose.
First, 1 say, by the power of his internal grace changing our hearts and minds : Titus iii. 5, 6, ' He saved us by the washing of regenera- tion, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;' and he acteth in us as Christ's Spirit, and as we are members of Christ. It is the Spirit enlightens the mind, so that we begin to seethe evil that is in sin, the necessity to get rid of it : 'After I was instructed, I smote upon the thigh ;' and also to overcome the obstinate heart of man and turn it to God, and to fix the inclination of the soul against sin. In short, by his preventing grace he doth convert us, by his exciting grace sanctify us, by his assisting grace he makes us persevere, in turning us more and more from sin to holiness.
Secondly, He sanctifies and blesses external helps and means. I shall instance in two — ordinances and providences.
[1.] Ordinances, such as the word and sacraments : John xvii. 19, ' I sanctified myself, that they might be sanctified by the truth,' that is, the preaching of the word. ' He gave himself for his church, that he might sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of water through the word.' Mark these and other places of scripture, and you will find the merit of Christ doth reach the ordinances, that by them grace may be conveyed, and sin might be mortified and subdued in us. The word