Thus much may suffice to be spoken of the nature of imjnitation of the righteousness of Christ; the grounds, reasons, and causes whereof, we shall in the next place inquire into. And I doubt not but we shall find, in our inquiry, that it is no such figment as some, ignorant of these things, do imagine; but, on the contrary, an impor- tant truth immixed with the most fundamental principles of the mystery of the gospel, and inseparable from the grace of God in Christ Jesus,
CHAPTER VIII.
Imputation of the sins of the churcli unto Christ— Grounds of it — The nature of his suretiship — Causes of the new covenant — Christ and the church one mystical person — Consequents thereof.
Those who believe the imputation of the righteousness of Christ unto believers, for the justification of life, do also unanimously pro- fess that the sins of all believer's were imputed unto Christ. And this they do on many testimonies of the Scripture directly witnessing thereunto; some whereof shall be pleaded and vindicated afterward. At present we are only on the consideration of the general notion of
V
1 76 ON JUSTIFICATION.
these things, and the declaration of the nature of what shall be proved afterward. And, in the first place, we shall inquire into the founda- tion of this dispensation of God, and the equity of it, or the grounds whereinto it is resolved; without an understanding whereof the thing itself cannot be well apprehended.
The principal foundation hereof is, — that Christ and the church, in this design, were one mystical perso7i; which state they do actually coalesce into, through the uniting efficacy of the Holy Spirit. He is the head, and believers are the members of that one person, as the apostle declares, 1 Cor. xii. 12, 13. Hence, a^whathe did is imputed unto them, as if done by them ; so what they deserved on the account of sin was charged upon him/ So is it expressed by a learned prelate, " Nos- tram causam sustinebat, qui nostram sibi camem aduniverat, et ita nobis arctissimo vinculo conjunctus, et hukig, quae erant nostra fecit sua." And again, " Quid mirum si in nostra persona constitutus, nos- tram earn em indutus,"etc., Montacut. Origin. Ecclesiast. The ancients speak to the same purpose. Leo. Serm. x\'ii., " Ideo se human® in- fimiitati virtus divina conseruit, ut dum Deus sua facit esse quse nostra sunt, nostra faceret esse quae sua sunt ;" and also Serm. xvi. " Caput nostrum Dominus Jesus Christus omnia in se corporis sui membra transformans, quod olim in psalmo eructaverit, id in sup- plicio crucis sub :redemptorum suorum voce clamavit." And so speaks/Augustine ^0 the same purpose, Epist. cxx., ad Honoratum, " Autlifnus vocem corporis ex ore capitis. Ecclesia in illo patie- batur, quando pro ecclesia patiebatur," etc. ; — " We hear the voice of the body from the mouth of the head. The church suffered in him when he suffered for the church/ as he suffers in the church when the church suffereth for him. For as we have heard the voice of the church in Christ suffering, ' My God, my God, why hast thou for- saken me? look upon me;' so we have heard the voice of Christ in the church suffering, ' Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?'" But we may yet look a little backward and farther into the sense of the ancient church herein. " Christus," saith Irengeus, " omnes gentes exinde ab Adam dispersas, et generationem hominum in semet ipso recapitulatus est ; unde a Paulo typus futuri dictus est ipse Adam," lib. iii. cap. 33. And again, " Recapitulans universum hominum genus in se ab initio usque ad finem, recapitulatus est et mortem ejus." In this oi recaintulation, there is no doubt but he had respect unto the avamfaXaluBic, mentioned Eph. i. 10; and it may be this was that which Origen intended enigmatically, by saying, " The soul of the first Adam was the soul of Christ, as it is charged on him." And Cyprian, Epist. Ixii., on bearing about the administration of the sacrament of the eucharist, " Nos omnes portabat Christus ; qui et jDeccata nostra portabat;" — " He bare us," or suffered in our person.
GROUNDS OF IMPUTATION. 177
" when he bare our sins." Whence Athanasius affirms of the voice he used on the cross, Oux auro; 6 Kvpiog' dXXa rjij^ug h sksivuj 'Trdg^ovng 7j/j,iv' — " We suffered in him." Eusebius sjieaks many things to this pur- pose, Demoustrat. Evangel. Kb. x. cap. 1. Expounding those words of the psalmist, " Heal my soul, for" (or, as he would read them, if) "I have sinned against thee," and applying them unto our Saviour in his sufferings, he saith thus, 'E-Trnddv Tag 7i/jLSTspa.g -/.oivO'-xonT ug sav-hv d/j,aprla,g' — " Because he took of our sins to himself;" communicated our sins to himself, making them his own: for so he adds, "On rug Tj'Msnpag d>j,apTiag l^oix.£iou/j:,ivog- — " Making our sins his own." And because in his folloAving words he fully expresseth what I design to prove, I shall transcribe them at large: USig 6s rag riiLiTspag aij.a.priag s^oixsiouraii -/.ai I'uig (p'spsiv Xeyirai rag dvo[xiag yj/Muv, rj xa^' 6 <roJ/j,a au-ou shai Xsyofjbida', %ara rov utoStoXov fT^aavTa, v/MiTg kars (s£iMa 'HpiSroZ, zai fjj'iXri £/C ijj'ipoug' xai y.aS o rrda-^ovrog ivhg /j^iXovg, av/j^rrddy^n irdyra rd fiiXr,, CVTU Tojv •■roXXiJv iii'K'jJv ffaff^oiz-oj!/ XK/ diJ^apTavovTOiv, xa/ avrhg zard roug Trig 6uijj--xa6iiag X6yo\jg, iTBibri'Trsp iud6z7]ffs Qsov Ktyog wf, [j.op^riv dovXov XdQsJv, xai rip y.oivui rrdvTMV '/j/mujv dzrivu/j^ari auvapOri'^ai' roug r£v 'xasyjivroiv [liXuv mvovg tig savrov dvaXa/j,Qdvn, zai rag rifisripag vCaovg iBio'ToisTrai, xa/ TavTuv ^/xuv v'^ipaXysT zai VTnp'iroviT •za.rd rovg ryjg fiXavSpc/jTiag vc/Mug' bl) n,6vov hi ravra irpd^ag 6 ' A/ut,vbg rou ©sou, dXXd zai V'—'sp tj/JjMv zo'Kaadilg zai Ti/xuplav ij'~o(fyuiv, r,\/ avrog (iiv ovz w'ps/Xsi/, dXX' Tj/J^s/'g rov 'xXrjl)ovg svszsv ':rB-~Xri/Ji.fMiXri,'Ji,sv(/jv, ^/xTv a'iriog rrig ruv diiapr'f\ix,dr</iv d(pi(iscog zarserrj, drs rhv b-~sp j^/xSv dvadit,d/Ji,svog davdrov, /xdariydg rs zai -uZpsig zai d-i;j/iag riiMTv s-rro^siXo/Msvag ug avrhv iMiraHiic, zai rriv tj/ji,?]/ 'Trpoffnri/j.ri/MS'jriv zardpav 1^' savrov hXzuGag, ysvo/xsvog h'rrip riijj£v zardpa' zai r! yap dXXo y] dvri- ■\|^i;p/oc; dio ^r,giv J^ ri/j,irspou nrpoSiL-TroM ro Xoyiov — worg sizorojg svuv savrov rjijjTvj '/jiddg rs auru zai rd ri/jjsrspa -zddj^ idiO'Toiov/Mvog <prisiv^ syu si~a, Kvpis eXsTiSov [jji^ idffai r^v -^v^riv /xov, on rifiaprov soi.