An answer to the discourse of Mr. William Sherlock, touching the knowledge of Christ,…

The Lord our righteousness is a very illustrious Name of Christ:¹ Bishop Andrews observes the word, Jehovah; Fl (saith he) is communicated to Angels; their names end in it, as Michael, Gabriel, Jah is communicated to Saints, their names end in it, Isaiah, Jeremiah: But here is Jehovah to certify us, that it is not the righteousness of Saints, nor of Angels that will serve the turn, but the righteousness of God, very God: And in his after discourse upon that name, he fairly builds on it the imputation of Christ's active and passive righteousness; ⟨p. 315⟩but our Author hath no mind to it. The Socinians, who play in Homonymies, familiarly enervate the force of a word in one Text, by the different signification of it in another: Tell them that Christ is called God; they will say, so are creatures too; tell them of a [Greek or Hebrew], they will reply, Moses was a [Greek or Hebrew], Acts 7.35. I will not say that our Author imitates them, but he turns himself about, and is much concerned for another interpretation of Christ's name: Is there no other possible sense to be made of this phrase? Righteousness sometimes signifies mercy; and so the Lord our righteousness, is the Lord that doth good to us: Thus the Author, righteousness in some places signifies mercy: Very well, but where do we meet with Jehovah our mercy? Or, because it signifies so in some Texts, must it do so in all? The question is, what it signifies in this place; Christ borrows not his Name from temporal blessings: no, that is too low: The Salvation their spoken of is a spiritual and eternal one, that Salvation is procured by the active and passive righteousness of Christ, that righteousness is made ours by imputation. Hence Christ is called the Lord ⟨p. 316⟩our righteousness: The Name of Christ must import somewhat peculiar to himself, to do good to us is common to the whole Trinity: but the active and passive righteousness of Christ is peculiar to himself, that therefore is imported in this Name: This Name seems to be attributed to the Church, Jer. 33.16. because the Church is mystically united to Christ, in whom this perfect righteousness is; and this righteousness, which is in Christ, becomes the Churches by imputation; Observe, this name is not given to all men, but to believers, as pointing out not common favours, but that righteousness of God, which is upon those that believe: