(2.) The means of sprinkling on our part ; for until Ave believe, the blood of Christ produceth not its effect upon our souls : Rom. iii. 25, ' AVhom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood.' Faith believeth the great love of Christ in the shedding of his blood for the expiation of our sins, and doth excite us to live in a constant course of obedience to him who died for us : 2 Cor. v. 14, 15, ' For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead : and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them.' All that sincerely believe in Christ, and embrace the gospel, have their sins pardoned, are accepted with God in Christ, and live in amity with him : Rom. viii. 1, ' There is no con- demnation to them that are in Christ.' They are now actually ad- mitted into communion with God, and the privileges of Christ's death. But these who thus believe, how far obedience concurreth I will not now debate ; it is enough to say, that sincere believers are freed from sin, and the direful consequences of it.
2. Whence hath the blood of Christ such a cleansing virtue ? Partly from the institution of God, and partly from its own intrinsic worth and value.
[1.] From the institution of God : Col. i. 19, 20, ' It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell. And having made peace through the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things unto him- self, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven.' It pleased the Father to make use of the blood of his cross to reconcile the world to himself. Divine institution puts a value upon things ; for surely God accepts what he hath appointed, let it be otherwise never so con- siderable, anything is of force unto that whereunto God hath ordained it. God's will is the reason and cause of all things. If God will appoint bread and wine to be the mysterious instruments of his grace, who can contradict his will ? Well, then, this is one ground of our
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confidence, that Christ is not a mediator of our choosing. If we had offered God a satisfaction, or Christ had interposed of his own accord, we might have met with a like answer as Moses had : Exod. xxxii. 32, 33, ' If thou wilt, forgive their sin : and if not, blot me out of thy book. And the Lord said, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book/ But God will not refuse what he hath appointed himself.
[2.] From its own intrinsic worth and value. There is more in Christ than what an institution puts upon him.
(1.) The dignity of the person ; who is not only perfectly holy, and separate from sinners, but hath also a divine virtue and power. Both concur in Christ, who was that holy thing born of the virgin, and was also a person subsisting in the Godhead. Who had a fulness of all grace, Col. i. 19. ' And the fulness of the Godhead dwelt in him bodily,' Col. ii. 9. Not mystically, as in believers ; not symbolically, as in the sacraments ; nor typically, and by way of shadow, as in the types of the law ; but really and personally. And therefore it is said in the text, ' The blood of Jesus Christ his Son ; ' and elsewhere : ' Redeemed by the blood of God,' Acts xx. 28. If the person satisfying be an infinite person, so is his satisfaction. The scripture improveth this notion, both in opposition to the sin of Adam ; there is a ttoXXw fiaXXov, a much more, put upon Christ : Rom. v. 15-17, ' But not as the offence, so also is the free gift ; for if through the offence of one man many were made sinners ; much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift ; for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many oftences to justification. For if by one man's offence death reigned by one ; much more they which receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.' The value of the first Adam did merely arise from God's institution ; yet one act of the first Adam was enough to ruin millions of souls, because God instituted him to be a public head and common root to all his seed. God hath also instituted Christ, but his acts were much more of an unlimited influence, because without any institution he was really better worth than all the world. So in opposition to the ceremonies of the law, there is a iroWCo p.aXkov, a much more, put upon Christ : Heb. ix. 13, 14, ' For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ purge your consciences from dead works to serve the living God ? ' The rites of old were able to work that for which they were ordained, cleanse from all uncleanness, and so stand before God in his worship ; but besides, there is an infinite worth in Christ to purge the conscience from sin. His person gave a value to his suffering, so that one serveth for all. He is worth millions of us. His temporary sufferings are enough to take off the penalty of eternal punishment due for the disobedience of the whole world.