Richard Baxter's Catholic theology plain, pure, peaceable, for pacification of the dogmatical word-warriors who,…Richard Baxter's Catholick theologie plain, pure, peaceable, for pacification of the dogmatical word-warriours who,…

130. The Truth which they grope after, and must reconcile them ••••, is as followeth. Christ in his Sufferings did stand in the room of ••ners as their Sponsor, and satisfied Justice as was said before: And ••d had other ends yet to accomplish: It was meet that the perfection •his Law should be glorified by a perfect fulfilling of it by Christ, •en we had failed. Satan was hereby confounded: God pleased and •noured: Man showed what he should have been, and yet should do: •ns nature in Christ was thus actively and habitually perfected: By all •s Christ performed his Obedience to the mediatorial Law, and his ¹•venant of Redemption; and so acquired a right first to himself of giving •t the purchased Benefits to Sinners, by a new Law or Covenant of Grace ••d according to it; By which Covenant, only as his Instrument, the •her and Son give us Right to them, in an Order there established. •••• that is there given to us, Christ purchased for us, by performing his •n Covenant first with the Father, by perfect Holiness, and Obedience, •en in his Sacrifice on the Cross, and by all that he undertook to do as Redeemer, antecedently. The Purchase was made for this Donation • its end, and is commensurate to it: just so much as Christ hath given •••• as to matter, manner, terms, degree, time, &c. he did purchase and •rit for us, and no more. Had he antecedently done all that he did •••• our person, and we in him, in Law sense, the thing it self, with its separable consequents and effects, had been all ours ipso facto, before and without the donation or conveyance of a new Law or Covenant; nor d they been ever given us upon terms and conditions, when they were own before, without those terms. But now what is given us by the ew Covenant, we have title to on this account, because it was purased by the perfect Merit and Sacrifice of Christ, and so given us by m, and by the Father. So that it is ours as sure as if we had merited it r selves, but not ours in the same order, and measure, and time, and ms, as if we had merited it our selves (in our natural or legal perns). For then it would have been all ours at once ipso facto, even e merit it self, and the fore-said effects. We deserved punishment, nd Christ was punished in our stead, that we might be forgiven; not mediately, but on Covenant-terms: we had forfeited Life by sin;