USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Springfield > The first century of the history of Springfield; the official records from 1636 to 1736, with an historical review and biographical mention of the founders, Volume I > Part 11
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And in this sense all Sacrifices of Atonement are called Sacrifices of Righteousness, not only as they are the procuring cause of the Father's Atonement for a sinner's righteousness, but also because they must be offered in righteousness, Mal. 3.3, that is to say. in faith, because poor
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believing sinners do by faith receive the Father's Atonement for their full and perfect righteousness.
And it is further evident that faith doth not otherwise justifie a sinner but as it is that grace or instrument of the Spirit, whereby a sinner is enabled to apprehend and receive the Father's atonement, by the Apostle's discourse in Rom. 3.21,22,23,24,25, all which verses I will briefly expound unto you: Firstly, the Apostle in these words doth teach us the nature of a sinner's justification he calls it the righteousness of God. He doth not call it the righteousness of Christ, but the righteousness of God the Father, because the formal cause and finishing act of a sinner's righteousness or justification doth come down from God the Father upou all believing sinners. A sinner cannot be made righteous by the works of the Law, as the former verse doth conclude: For by the Law come men to know them- selves to be sinners and they that are sinners are ever sinners in them- selves, therefore if ever sinners can be made righteous they must be made righteous by such a kind of righteousness as it pleaseth God the Father to bestow upon them, and that can be no other righteousness than a passive righteouness proceeding from God's merciful atonement.pardon and for- giveness.
But the Apostle doth further describe this righteousness of God, ver. 21. by two other circumstances, 1. Negatively. 2. Affirmatively. I. Negatively he saith that this righteousness is without the works of the Law. He doth plainly affirm that the works of the Law have no influence at all in the point of a sinners justice or justification.
He doth affirm that this righteousness of God whereby sinners are made righteous, is such a righteousness as is witnessed by the Law and the Prophets. It is witnessed by the Law, namely, by that part of the Law which did teach and typifie unto sinners how they might be sinless by God's atonement through their sacrifice of atonement, as the procuring cause thereof, as I have opened the matter more at large already.
Faith itself is not a sinner's righteousness, and therefore it cannot be accounted as a sinner's righteousness, instead of the righteousness of the Law, as some would have it. For if faith were a sinner's righteousness no otherwise but in the place or stead of the righteousness of the Law, then faith could not justifie a sinner any further than the Law would do, if it could be supposed that a sinner could by any means attain to the right- eousness of the Law, and then truly faith would be but a poor righteous- ness to cover a sinner's nakedness. For if a sinner could keep the whole Law in every circumstance of it. from his birth unto his death, yet it would not be sufficient to justifie his orginal sin.
The true manner how the Law taught sinners to get righteousness by faith: When a poor humble sinner brought his sacrifice of atonement to the priest to be offered for him upon the altar, he must lay both his hands with all his might upon the head of the sacrifice of atonement. This kind of imposition was ordained by God to teach and tipifie unto sinners how they must by faith rest and depend upon the sacrifice of Christ as the only meritorious procuring cause of the Father's atonement for their full and perfect righteousness.
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Vers. 25, Whom God hath foreordained to be a propitiation (or a sacri- fice of atonement) through faith in his blood. The Apostle explains the matter by another sentence, Rom. 5.11, by whom we have received the atonement. The Apostle doth imply three things in this sentence.
I. That Christ is the Mediator by whom sinners do receive.
2. The main thing which they do receive by him is the Father's atone- ilent.
3. That the means or manner by which they receive the Father's atone- ment, is the grace of faith.
Vers. 25. To declare his righteousness by the passing over sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.
I. God declared his righteousness towards sinners by ordaining Jesus Christ to be a propitiation.
2. By ordaining the grace of faith as the instrument of the spirit, whereby poor sinners might be enabled to believe in the Mediator's propitiatory sacrifice, and receive through him the Father's atonement for their right- eousness.
And therefore justified persons have need of new justice to their con- sciences every day.
Enumeration of the Causes of Justification.
And now for a conclusion I will sum up the Doctrine of Justification in six heads.
I. The subject matter of Justification is, believing sinners of all sorts both Jews and Gentiles all the world over.
2. The formal cause of Justification, or of a sinner's righteousness, is the Father's atonement, pardon, and forgiveness.
3. The meritorious cause of the Father's atonement for a sinner's Justi- fication, is, Christ's Mediatorial Sacrifice of atonement.
4. The next instrumental means by which a sinner doth receive and apprehend the Father's atonement for his Justification, is faith in Christ.
5. The only efficient cause of all the former causes and effects, is God's free grace and mercy in himself.
6. The end of all is the glory of God's free grace and mercy in the believ- ing sinner's justification and salvation.
Examination of Arguments Propounded by M. Forbes for proving Justi- cation by the Imputation of the Passive Obedience of Christ in
his Death and Satisfaction.
I pray you produce some of his arguments that they may be tried and examined whether there be any weight of truth in them or no.
Nothing (saith M. Forbes) is made of God to be a sinner's righteous- ness, but Jesus Christ alone and his righteousness, and this he proves by I Cor. 1.30, Jer. 23.26, with other places. The Apostle saith that Christ was made of God unto us righteousness, but how? not as the doctrine of imputation speaketh, but thus, God made him to be our righteousness in a Mediatorial way, by ordering him to be the only meritorious procur-
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ing cause of his atonement, which is a sinner's righteousness. Christ is not a sinner's righteousness any otherwise but in a Mediatorial way only, as I have oft warned. Christ is called Jehovah our righteousness, but still it must be understood in a Mediatorial way, and no otherwise.
And thus Christ is our Righteousness in one respect, the Father is another, and the Holy Ghost in another. Each person is a sinner's right- eousness in several respects. The manner how Christ should justifie the many was by bearing their iniquities, and how else did he bear their iniquities but by his sacrifice of Atonement? and in this sense Christ is said to justifie us with his blood, Rom. 5.9. that is to say, by his Sacrifice of Atonement; therefore his righteousness cannot be the for- mal cause of a sinner's righteousness: it is but the procuring cause of the Father's atonement which is the only formal cause of a sinner's right- eousness.
The Father is a sinner's righteousness. I. Efficiently. 2. Formally. His Atonement so procured must needs be the formal cause of a sinner's full and perfect righteousness.
The Holy Ghost also doth make sinners righteous, instrumentally by fitting, preparing and qualifying sinners for the Father's Atonement, by quickening their souls with the lively grace of faith, by which grace sin- ners are enabled to apprehend and receive the Father's Atonement.
It is well that your Author will grant remission of sins to be righteous- ness in effect: if remission of sins be a sinner's righteousness then I pray consider whose act it is to forgive sins formally. I have already proved it to be the Father's act to forgive sin formally, and not Christ's; he doth forgive sin no otherwise but as a Mediator by procuring his Father's par- don and forgiveness.
M. Forbes is put to his shifts to declare that Christ's passive obedience is the matter of a sinner's righteousness, by a distinction between Christ as he was our Lamb for Sacrifice in his human nature, and as he was our Priest in his divine nature; for else he did foresee that he should run into an exceeding gross absurdity, if he had made any action of Christ's Godhead or Priestly nature to have been a sinner's righteous- ness by imputation: Therefore to avoid that absurdity he doth place a sinner's righteousness in his passive obedience only. His distinction be- tween Christ as he was a Lamb for sacrifice in his human nature, and as he is our Priest in his Divine nature, is very ill applied, because he makes Christ's passive obedience to be meritorious and satisfactory, excluding him as he is our Priest.
From all the premises I think I may well conclude that your Author is in a great error, to ascribe the whole matter of a sinner's righteousness to Christ's bloody Sacrifice only. Neither was his bloody sacrifice the only procuring of his Father's atonement, but his Priestly nature must concur thereunto; he made his oblation by his divine nature as well as by his human nature.
The blood of Jesus Christ doth clense us from all sin, I John 1.7. by a Synecdoche: for the Apostle doth not say that his blood alone without anything doth clense us from all sin (as M. Forbes would have him speak)
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but he names his blood as a Synecdoche of his death or as a Synecdoche of his Mediatorial obedience, which also he sealed with his blood, when he made his soul a Mediatorial Sacrifice.
I grant that all mankind are one with Adam by a natural union, as pro- ceeding from the same root and fountain of nature; but I fear your Author doth stretch our natural union with Adam unto a personal union (I mean M. Forbes doth so by consequence) to the end that he might make Adam's personal action to be ours by imputation.
Adam's disobedience had this effect, that it procured a corrupt and sinful nature to himself, and to all his posterity, which otherwise had con- tinued righteous and sinless.
In like sort Christ's Mediatoril obedience had this effect, that it pro- cured God's fatherly atonement and acceptance of all his posterity and seed that should be born of the same promise. Gen. 3.15.
By one man, namely. Adam's sin in eating the forbidden fruit, death entered into the world, and death by sin, namely, spiritual death in sin fell upon Adam and his posterity for his sin; and so death passed upn all men for all men had sinned. That is to say, in whose loins all men have sinned (by receiving from his loins his corrupt nature which is sin) and also is the punishment of Adam's sinful eating; not whose act of obedience in eating the forbidden fruit, all men have sinned in eating the forbidden fruit, for then we must have been united to Adam as one person with him.
But it passeth my understanding to conceive how God in justice can impute the act of Christ's Mediatorial Sacrifice of Atonement to us as our act, unless he doth first make us one with Christ in the personal unity of both natures, neither can I see how any of the actions of Christ can be imputed to Believers as their actions.
In like sort our blessed Mediator (as he is the mystical head of all believers in the Covenant of grace) did take care to do all and every act of Mediatorial obedience that might procure his Father's Atonement for the good and benefit of every member of his mystical body, as fully and effec- tually as if every member could have performed those acts of Mediatorial obedience themselves. And in this sense God doth impute the efficacy of all Christ's Mediatorial obedience to all believers as the only meritorious price of his Father's atonement for them.
Of Atonement or Reconciliation.
The Father's Atonement comprehendeth under it justification and adoption.
These two parts of the Father's atonement or reconciliation are evident by the effects, which all the sacrifices of atonement under the Law did procure to poor believing sinners (for all the sacrifices of atonement under the Law did typifie Christ's Sacrifice of atonement) and they procured the Father's atonement, which hath a threefold effect towards poor believing sinners.
I. All Sacrifices of Atonement in general were ordained to procure a savour of rest unto Jehovah, namely, to procure a savour of rest to God the Father.
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2. The sin offerings (which were sacrifices of atonement) were ordained by God to procure God's merciful atonement, pardon, and forgiveness to poor believing sinners, by which means only sinners are made sinless, that is to say, just and righteous in God's sight.
3. The burnt-offerings (which also were sacrifices of Atonement) were ordained of God to procure his favorable acceptance towards poor be- lieving sinners, by receiving them into special favor as Adopted sinners.
Therefore his forgiveness of sin is not only a bare acquittance of the fault, but it doth comprehend under it his receiving of sinners into favor. And I do also grant that his receiving of sinners into favor must be dis- tinguished as another part of God's Atonement.
This also must be remembered, that no other person in the Trinity doth forgive sins formally but God the Father only, Mar. 2.7, Col. 2.13, he of his free grace did ordain the Mediator as the meritorious cause of his for- giveness, and therefore it is said that he doth forgive us all our sins for Christ's sake, Ephes. 4.32. Sometimes Christ is said to forgive sins, Col. 3.3. but still we must understand his forgiveness to be in a Mediatorial way, not formally.
And whereas I have often in this treatise made God's atonement to com- prehend under it our Redemption from sin, as well as our justification and adoption; I would have you take notice that I do not mean that God's atonement doth contain under it Redemption as another distinct point differing from justification; but I make our redemption and freedom from sin by the Father's atonement to be all one with our justification from sin.
The Father's Atonement or Reconciliation is the top-mercy of all mercies that makes poor sinners happy.
But the truth is, a sinner's Atonement must be considered as it is the work of all the Trinity.
I. The Father must be considered as the efficient and as the formal cause of a sinner's atonement.
2. The Mediator must be considered as the only meritorious procuring cause of the Father's Atonement. Rom. 5.10.
3. The Holy Ghost must be considered as the principal instrumental cause of the Father's Atonement. by working in sinners the grace of faith, by which sinners are enabled to apprehend and receive the Father's atonement: or thus, The Father must be considered as the efficient cause. the Son as the Mediatorial cause, and the Holy Ghost as the principal instrumental cause of all blessings, that poor believing sinners do enjoy, Eph. 1.13.
To conclude, If thou hast gotten any spiritual blessing by anything that I have said in this Treatise, Let God have all the Glory.
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ANSWERS TO LETTERS FROM ENGLAND.
Copy of a Letter written from New England, in Answer to a Letter whichi they have Received from some Brethren in Old England, in the behalf of Mr. Pinchon.
Reverend and Beloved Brethren in our Lord Jesus :-
We see by your Letters you have thought it meete to address yourselves to us (the Elders of these Churches) in behalf of Mr. Pinchon and his Book, to incline us to a favorable construction of the Tenents held forth in it as Disputable, and (to some of note) probable; and for himself to move us to intercede with our Magistrates to deal favorably with him as a Gentleman pious and well deserving. In both which we shall give you a just account of our Proceedings.
When Mr. Pinchon's Book came to us it was the time of the sitting of our General Court, wherein both Magistrates and Deputies of every Town in the Country, do assemble to consider and determine of the chiefest affairs which concern this Colony: At the same time a Ship in the Har- bor was ready to set sail for England. Now the Court (both parts of them, the Magistrates and Deputies) perceiving by the Title Page that the Contents of the Book were unsound, and Derogatory, both to the Jus- tice of God and the Grace of Christ, which being published in England might add to the heap of many errors and Heresies already too much abounding, and this Book being published under the name of a New English Gentleman, might occasion many to think that New England also concurred in tlie allowance of such Exorbitant Aberrations: They therefore judged it meet, not to stay till the Elders could be gathered together but whilst the Ship yet stayed, to declare their own judgment against the Book, and to send a Copy of their Declaration to England by the Ship, then ready to depart: Had the Tenets therein seemed to them to be matters, either of doubtful disputation, or of small moment, we doubt not, they would either not at all have declared themselves against the Book, or if they had, they would have stayed for some opportunity of pre- vious consultation with the Elders: but some of the Tenets seemed to them so directly to shake the Fundamentals of Religion, and to wound the vitals of Christianity, that they being many of them well versed both in Dogmatical and Controversial points of Divinity, thought it their duty to profess their Orthodox faith against all destructive Paradoxes, and dangerous Innovations vented from amongst ourselves: for according as they believe, they do also profess (as ourselves likewise do.) That the
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Obedience of Christ to the whole Law, which is the Law of Righteousness, is the matter of our Justification; and the Imputation of our sins to Christ (and thereupon his suffering the sense of wrath of God upon him for our sin) and the Imputation of his obedience and sufferings are the formal cause of our Justification and that they that do deny this, do now take away both these, both the matter and the form of our Justification (as this Book doth) and take away also our Justification, which is the life of our souls and of our Religion, and therefore called Justification of life, Rom. 5.18. As for the Notion which you conceive he declineth, of Infinite wrath, we readily conceive with you, that though God's wrath be (as himself is infinite, yet no creature can bear infinite wrath) but be swallowed up of it; and therefore the wicked are put to suffer finite wrath in an infinite time; yet this suffering in an infinite time is accidental, in regard to the finiteness of the creature, but Christ being infinite God, as well as finite man, his manhood suffering, though in a finite measure, the sense of God's wrath both in soul and body, the infiniteness of his God- head (whereto his manhood was united in one person) made his finite suf- fering, in a finite time to become of infinite value and efficacy, for the sat- isfaction of God's Justice and transaction of our Redemption. (Thus much for the Book.)
Now for the Author of the Book; before your letter came to our hands the Court dealt favorably with him, according to your desire. Before they knew your desire, they appointed three of our fellow Elders and Brethren, all of them his friends and acquaintances (such as himself chose) to confer with him, and finding him yielding in some main points (which he expressed willingly under his own hand) the Court readily accepted the same, as a fruit of his ingenuity, and a pledge of more full satisfaction; withal they gave him a Book penned (at their appointment by our Reverend Brother Mr. Norton) in way of answer to all his grounds, which he thankfully accepted, and promised upon due perusal & consideration thereof, to return further Answer. All which, though it pleased God to have done, before your letter came to our hands; yet we acquainted our Magistrates with the contents of your Letter, whereto they reurned this Answer. They doubted, either you had not read the Book throughout, or that having seriously weighed it (as the matter required) you would find some Fundamental Errors in it, meet to be duly witnessed against: For ourselves we thankfully accept of this your labor of love in adver- tising us of what you think behoofful; wherein though we differ, and (as we believe) justly differ from you, yet if we did not lovingly accept adver- tisement from our Reverend Brethren sometimes when there is Isss need we might discourage ourselves and other Brethren from sendng us due advertisement when there is more need. Now the Lord Jesus Christ, the God of Truth and Peace, lead you by his Spirit of Truth into all Truth; and support you with a Spirit of faithfulness and holy zeal, to stand in the gap against the Innundation of all the Errors and Heresies of this present Age; and by his Spirit of Peace, guide and bless your Studies and holy Labours, to the advancement and establishment of Peace with
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Truth throughout the Nation: So desiring the fellowship of your prayers, we take leave and rest.
Your loving Brethren in the Lord Jesus and in the Fellowship of his Gospel,
John Cotton. Richard Mather. Zech. Symmes. John Wilson. Will. Thompson.
Sir Henry Vane wrote from England to the Colonial au- thorities at Boston, his former associates, asking them to deal lightly with Mr. Pynchon, to which they replied :- Honoured Sir :-
. We received your letter bearing date the 15th of April, 1652, written in the behalf of Mr. William Pincheon, who is one that we did love and respect. But his book and the doctrine therein contained we cannot but abhor as pernicious and dangerous; and are much grieved, that such an erroneous pamphlet was penned by a New England man, especially a Magistrate amongst us, wherein he taketh upon him to condemn the judg- ment of most, if not all, both ancient and modern divines, who were learned, orthodox and godly in point of so great weight and concernment, as tend to the salvation of God's elect, and the contrary, which he main- tains to the destruction of such as follow it. Neither have we heard of any one godly orthodox divine, that ever held what he hath written; nor do we know of any one of our ministers in all the four jurisdictions that doth approve of the same; but all do judge it erroneous and heretical. And to the end that we might give satisfaction to all the world of our just proceedings against him, and for the avoiding of any just offence to be taken against us, we caused Mr. John Norton, teacher of the church of Ipswich, to answer his book fully, which, if printed, we hope it will give yourself and all indifferent men full satisfaction.
Mr. Pincheon might have kept his judgment to himself, as it seems he did above thirty years, most of which time he hath lived amongst us with honour, much respect and love. But when God left him to himself in the publishing, and spreading his erroneous book here amongst us, to the endangering of the faith of such as might come to read them (as the like effects have followed the reading of other erroneous books brought over into these parts,) we held it our duty, and believed we were called of God to proceed against him accordingly. And this we can further say, and that truly, that we used all lawful Christian means, with as much tenderness, respect. and love, as he could expect, which we think he himself will acknowledge. For we desired divers of our elders such as he himself liked, to confer with him privately, lovingly and meekly, to see if they could prevail with him by arguments from the scriptures, which accord-
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ingly was done, and he was then thereby so far convinced that he seemed to yield for substance the case in controversy signed with his own hand. And for the better confirming of him in the truth of God, Mr. Norton left with him a copy of the book he writ in answer to him; and the Court gave him divers months to consider both of the book, and what had been spoken unto him by the elders. But in the interim (as it is reported) he received letters from England, which encouraged him in his error, to the great grief of us all, and of divers others of the people of God amongst us. We therefore leave the author, together with the fautors and maintainers of such opinions to the great Judge of all the earth, who judgeth right- eously and is no respector of persons. Touching that which you hon- oured self doth advise us unto, viz. not to censure any person for matters of a religious nature or concernment, we desire to follow any good advice from you, or any of the people of God, according to the rule of God's word. Yet we conceive, with submission still to better light, that we have not acted in Mr. Pincheon's case either for substance or circumstance, as far as we can discern, otherwise than according unto rule, and as we be- lieve in conscience to God's command, we were bound to do. All which we hope will so far satisfy you as that we shall not need to make further defence touching this subject. The God of peace and truth lead you into all faith, and guide your heart aright in these dangerous and apostatising times, wherein many are fallen from the faith, giving heed to errours, and make you an instrument (in the place God hath called you unto) of his praise, to stand for his truth against all opposers thereof, which will bring you peace and comfort in the saddest hours, which are the prayers of, Sir, your unworthy servants,
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