THE PRECEDING DISCOURSE. S33
relieve himself by the calumny of assigning a distinction unto me between the graces of Christ's person as mediator, and the graces of his person as God and man (that is, one person) ; which is a mere figment of his own misunderstanding. Upon the whole, he comes to that accurate thesis of his own, — that there are no personal gi-aces in Qirist but what belong to his Deity or humanity. Personal graces belonging unto the humanity, or human nature of Christ, — that na- ture being dfi/croffraroc, or such as hath no personal subsistence of its own, — is a notion that those may thank him for who have a mind to do it. And he may do well to consider what his thoughts are of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, mentioned Phil. ii. 6-11.
But he will now discover the design of all these things, and after- ward make it good by quotations out of my book. The first he doth, p. 203, and onwards : " But whatever becomes of the sense of the distinction, there is a very deep fetch in it, the observing of which will discover the whole mystery of the person of Christ and our union to him. For these men consider that Christ saves us as he is our mediator, and not merely considered as God or man ; and they imagine that we receive grace and salvation from Christ's per- son just as we do water out of a conduit, or a gift and largess from a prince, — that it flows to us from our union to his person; and there- fore they dress up the person of the Mediator with all those personal excellencies and graces which may make him a fit Saviour, that those who are thus united to his person (of which more in the next section) need not fear missing of salvation. Hence they ransack all the boundless perfections of the Deity, and whatever they can find or fancy speaks any comfort to sinners, this is presently a personal grace of the Mediator; — they consider all the glorious effects of his mediation ; and whatever great things are spoken of his gospel, or religion, or intercession for us, these serve as personal graces: so that all our hopes may be built, not on the gospel covenant, but on the person of Christ. So that the dispute now lies between the per- son of Clu-ist and his gospel, — which must be the foundation of our hope, — which is the way to life and happiness."
First, We do consider and believe that Christ saves as a mediator; that is, as God and man in one person, exercising the office of a mediator, and not merely as God or man. This we believe with all the catholic church of Christ, and can with boldness say, He that doth not so, let him be anathema maran-atha. Secondly, We do not imagine, but believe from the Scripture, and with the whole church of God, that we receive grace and salvation from the person of Christ in those distinct ways wherein they are capable of being received ; and let him be anathema who believes otherwise. Only, whether his putting of grace and salvation into the same way of reception
334) A VINDICATION OF
belong unto his accuracy in expressing his own sentiments, or his ingenuity in the representation of other men's words, I leave unde- termined. The simihtudes he useth to express our faith in these things, show his good-will towards scoffing and profaneness. We say, there is real communication of grace from the person of Christ, as the head of the church, unto all the members of his mystical body by his Spirit, whereby they are quickened, sanctified, and enabled unto all holy obedience; and, if it be denied by him, he stands ana- thematized by sundry councils of the ancient church. We say not, that we receive it as " water out of a conduit,'' which is of a limited, determined capacity ; whereas we say, the person of Christ, by reason of his Deity, is an immense, eternal, living spring or fountain of all grace. And when God calls himself a " fountain of living water;" and the Lord Christ calls his Spirit communicated to believers " living water" (under which appellations he was frequently promised in the Old Testament); as also the grace and mercy of the gospel, the "water of life," — inviting us to receive them, and to drink of them, — this author may be advised to take heed of profane scoffing at these things. Whether any have said, that we receive grace and salvation from Christ, as " a gift or largess from a prince," I know not; if they have, the sole defect therein is, that the allusion doth no way suffi- ciently set forth the freedom and bounty of Christ in the communi- cation of tliem unto sinners; and wherein else it offends, let him soberly declare, if he can. This is the charge upon us in point of faith and judgment; which, in one word, amounts to no more but this, — that we are Christians : and so, by the grace of God, we intend to continue, let this man deride us whilst he pleaseth. Thirdly, His next charge concerns our practice in the pursuit of these dreadful piinciples, which, by their repetition, he hath exposed to sconi: " And therefore they dress up," etc. What doth this poor man in- tend? what is the design of all this profaneness? The declaration of the natures and person of Christ, — of his grace and work, — the jiscribing unto him what is directly and expressly in terms ascribed unto him in the Scripture, or relating, as we are able, the descrip- tion it gives of him, — is here called, " Dressing up the person of the Mediator with all those personal graces that may make him a fit Saviour." The preparation of the person of Christ to be a fit and meet Saviour for sinners, which he profanely compares to the dressing