But that which is through the faith of CJtrist, the righteousness ivhich is of God hg faith : that I may knoiv him and the poivcr of his resurrection. That is, that righteousness which is in Christ, but laid hold on of me * That is, ' the birth takes of the womb.' Cf. Ps. sli. 5.— G.
96 EXPOSITION OF
and apprehended by faith ; and all that righteousness that he had, both active and passive obedience as Mediator, but especially his passive. For he was born, lived, and died for us ; and this is that which St Paul desired to bo ' found in,' and this is that which we must trust to.
But how can this righteousness, performed wholly by him, be mine ?
I answer. By faith it is made ours ; for if Christ bo ours, all his right- eousness must consequently be made ours.
But how can this righteousness performed by Christ be sufficient for us ?
I answer, First, Because God ordained it to that purpose : 1 Cor. i. 30, ' Christ by God is made to us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption ;' and to this end God the Father scaled him,' John vi. 27.
Secondly, I sa}^ Christ is a ' second Adam,' and a public person, and became ours, we then being in his loins ; so the righteousness of Christ is made ours, we being born in Christ by faith and found in him. He being our head, we have a spiritual life descending upon us ; he being our husband, all his goods are ours also. This|point is the soul of the church, and the golden key which opens heaven for us. If we join any other thing to it, it opens hell to us, as God will reveal at that great day. It is true the papists do acknowledge now that their good works are not of themselves but from God ; but thus did the Pharisee, ' he thanked God that he was not as other men, nor as the publican,' Luke xviii. 11. But the poor publican, disclaiming all such goodness, went away justified rather than the other. Let it be our wisdom therefore to rely only on Christ, whose obe- dience and righteousness is so all-sufficient as nothing may be added thereto, and say with the apostle, ' Not I, but the grace of God in me,' 1 Cor. XV. 10.
YERSE 10.
And the fellowship of his sufferings.
The apostle having shewed his desire of Christ's righteousness, now comes to shew his desire also of having communion with Christ in his sufferings ; shewing that whosoever brags of justification, he must shew it in his sanctification. He must shew that he hath his part in the fellow- ship of his sufferings, if he meaneth to shew he hath his part in the power of his resurrection. Water is not alone, but water and blood must go together. Now Christ's sufferings are either for us as Mediator, or with us as being our head, and we his members. As Mediator he suffered death, which was only for our good. We can have no trust in our death as to deserve anything thereby as he did ; for by his death he appeased God's wrath, and got his favour to us which we lost, and by it he sanctifies our sufferings and pulls out the sting of all our afflictions ; as it is with the unicorn, who having put his horn into the water, discharges all poison thereout, so as the beasts may freely drink without hurt (q). So it is with us : we may suffer and endure afflictions without hurt, seeing Christ hath purged them of all poisonous nature that was in them.
But there are other sufferings that we and Christ suffer jointly, he as our head suffering with us his members ; for as if the foot be grieved the head is grieved, so the Christian's sufferings are called Chi-ist's sufferings, and a Christian must look to suffer if he be a lively member of the body of Christ. Yet is not every suffering of affliction Christ's suffering, for a man may suffer justly for his deserts. Notwithstanding even then, when a
PHILIPPIANS CHAP. Ill, VER. 10, i97
man suffers for bis foults, after repentance Christ may be said to suffer with him ; and therefore the fathers called the death of the repentant thief a mart3''rdom. For in all our sufferings Christ is in us, teaching and helping us to bear them with patience, and as a sanctifier of all of them to a blessed end, and as one that frames us to bear all of them, even as he himself did.
Use 1. This ought to teach us to conceive aright of the estate of a Chris- tian, that he is not alone when he seems to be alone. Christ leaves them not in misery. No. For in misery he is most near and present. It is therefore a good estate, though misery in itself be not desirable, for Christ desired to die and not to die, and so we in several respects may do. For if we regard death as a destroyer of nature, so is it not to be desired ; but considering it as the will of God my Father, so are we to desire it and yield ourselves to it. And accordingly we desire not afflictions for their proper natural good, yet in I'egard they are a means to prepare and fit us for heaven, we say with David, ' It is good for us to bo afflicted,' Ps. cxix .67.