A53678:1254
A continuation of the exposition of the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the…
A continuation of the exposition of the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews viz, on the sixth, seventh, eight, ninth, and tenth chapters : wherein together with the explication of the text and context, the priesthood of Christ ... are declared, explained and confirmed : as also, the pleas of the Jews for the continuance and perpetuity of their legal worship, with the doctrine of the principal writers of the Socinians about these things, are examined and disproved / by J. Owen ...
London: printed for Nathaniel Ponder, 1680
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
It may be said that Believers had this Righteousness under the Levitical Priesthood, or they could not have had a good Report through Faith, namely, this Testimony, That they pleased God.
Answ. 1. Our Apostle doth not deny it, yea, he proves it at large by manifold Instances, Chap. 11. that they had it. Only he denies that they had it by virtue of the Levitical Priesthood, or any Duties of the Law. He speaks not of the thing it self, with respect unto the Persons of Believers under the Old Testament, but of the cause and means of it. What they had of this kind was by virtue of another Priesthood, which therefore was to be introduced; and the other, which could not effect it, was therefore to be removed. He denies not Perfection unto Persons under the Levitical Priesthood, but denies that they were made Partakers of it thereby.
Answ. 1. Our Apostle doth not deny it, yea, he proves it at large by manifold Instances, Chap. 11. that they had it. Only he denies that they had it by virtue of the Levitical Priesthood, or any Duties of the Law. He speaks not of the thing it self, with respect unto the Persons of Believers under the Old Testament, but of the cause and means of it. What they had of this kind was by virtue of another Priesthood, which therefore was to be introduced; and the other, which could not effect it, was therefore to be removed. He denies not Persection unto Persons under the Levitical Priesthood, but denies that they were made Partakers of it thereby.
2. They had this Righteousness really and as to the Benefits of it, but had it not in that Clearness and Evidence of its Nature, Cause, and Effects, as it is now revealed in the Gospel. Hence although their Interest in it was sufficient to secure their Eternal Concernments, yet they had it not in such a way as was required unto this [Greek or Hebrew] in this Life. For we know how great a Portion of the perfect state of the Gospel, consists in a clear Apprehension, that Christ is, and how he is our Righteousness, whereon the main of our present Comforts do depend. The great Enquiry of the Souls of Men is how they may have a Righteousness before God. And the clear discovery of the causes of it, of the way and manner how we are made partakers of it, is a great part of the Perfection of the Gospel state.