Ans. 2. Secondly, We are said to be * baptized for the washing away of sins.' There the washing away of sins is put for all the rest.
Sometimes again you shall have them both mentioned : and so in Jer. xxxi.' 32, ' This shall be the covenant that I will make with thee, in those days,' saith God: ' I will be their God, and they shall be my people ; I will forgive their iniquities, and give them a new heart, and I will take away their heart of stone, and give them an heart of flesh,' &c. Here is all put together now ; sin remitted, and the new heart given, and all expressed and mentioned in the new covenant.
Quest. 2. How comes it then that remission of sins is here put for the rest ?
Ans. 1. I answer, first. Because that this is the first mercy ; and, secondly. This is the chiefest mercy, and the chiefest benefit in the new covenant, and therefore it is put for all the rest, by a figure usual in the Scriptures.
(1.) First, I say, it is that which God first doth, it is the first mercy which he shews. It is no hoping that he will bestow any gift on a man, until he receive him to favour. All those other gifts, those gifts of grace, they follow the gracious accepting of a man. First, God receives the person of a man, accepts him to favour, and then he bestows upon him all those gifts that are bequeathed by Christ in this testament. A king first receives a rebel to favour, forgives him his ofi'ence before he bestow any honour, any other privilege upon him. Now, because this is the first, therefore it is put for the rest, the rest follow it.
(2.) Then, secondly, because this is the chief, and so it includes all the rest under it ; for, if this be once obtained, if this favour be once bestowed on a man, that God have forgiven him his sins, then he gives him everything else. So the apostle, Rom. v. 9, 10, saith he, ' If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son ; much more now, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.' If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled by the death of Christ, that is the first thing ; and the greatest of all the great works of mercy was to remove and take away the impediments, the obstacles, the blocks that lay in the way. Sin, the conscience of sin, to purge the conscience from that, to forgive all that which laid a man open to the wrath of God, this is the greatest work ; if this be done, it is an easy matter to obtain all the rest. And this may be noted the rather for the comfort of weak Christians, that doubt so much of strength of grace to subdue any corruption, for assistance and grace to persevere in an holy course. Hath God done the first work ? Hath he forgiven thy sins ? All the rest are less works than this ; it is a less mercy, after sin is forgiven, to increase grace, to continue grace, to subdue corruption, and the rest ; all will follow upon this, they are all included
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under this : therefore, I say, let a man make sure this to himself, first, that he hath forgiveness of sins, and then from thence let him raise argu- ments to strengthen his faith, and to encourage himself in asking another mercy at the hands of God ; and so in any outward thing, in any outward want, distress, or difficulty, if God have done the greater, he hath forgiven thy sins. You know the apostle reasons from the giving of Christ, ' If he have given us his Son, with him he will give us all things,' Rom. viii. 32. Now the first and greatest gift, in the Son, it is this, to have our sins for- given, and therefore he will certainly give all the rest with it ; if a man can make good this one thing to his soul, all the rest will follow upon it. So much for the second question.
Quest. 3. Again, there is another, and that is this, How can it he said here that this blood is shed for the forgiveness of sins / It seems somewhat con- tradictory and opposite one to another ; for, if sins he forgiven, How comes Christ to shed his blood for them ? And if Christ shed his blood for them, How are they said to be forgiven ?
Ans. 1. The shedding of Christ's blood supposeth merit. It was by the merit of his death that we obtained this mercy. Now where there is merit, what mercy is there in it ? Forgiveness supposeth a free gift, a free grace ; but where there was such a merit, as was procured by the blood of Christ, what free gift was in it ? These two seem to fight one against another, and therefore we must reconcile them ; for these two may well stand together, remission of sins, and yet the obtaining this by the blood of Christ. To this purpose you must consider in God,