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

Dr. Owen first tells of an habitual Righteousness of Christ,¹ as Mediator in his humane Nature, that this was the necessary effect of the Grace of Union, that thereby he was [Greek or Hebrew], fit to do all that he did for us; So that this is not imputed to us, but was his own proper Righteousness: But Secondly, There is the actual obedience of Christ, which was his willing performance of every thing that God by any Law did ⟨p. 427⟩require, besides the particular Law of the Mediator: Let us then first consider the peculiar Law of the Mediator, which he tells us, respected himself merely, (so that we have nothing to do with this neither) and it contains all those acts and duties of his, which were not for our imitation; he instances in his obedience, which he showed in dying, (though St. John tells us, that we must imitate him in this also, must lay down our lives for the brethren, as Christ dyed for us, Joh. 1.3.16. And St. Paul tells us, that we must be conformed to the Death and Resurrection of Christ, Rom. 6. which sounds very like an imitation) though in the next page he excepts the case of dying of his passive obedience; and tells us, that all the rest of his obedience to the Law of meditation is not imputed to us, as though we had done it; So that by the Law of meditation, he understands whatever Christ was bound to do as our Mediator, whatever was proper to his Mediatory office; all this (though sometimes, when he better thinks of it, he excepts dying) is not imputed to us, as though we had done it: I hope we shall find something at last to be imputed to us; and yet there is nothing left now. But thirdly, ⟨p. 428⟩That which concerns him in a private capacity, as a man subject to the Law: And now whatever was required of us by virtue of any Law, that he did and fulfilled: And this is that actual obedience of Christ, which he performed for us: This is very strange, that what he did as Mediator, is not imputed to us: But what he did not as our Mediator, but as a man subject to Law, that is imputed to us, and reckoned as if we had done it, by reason of his being our Mediator; and it is as strange to the full, that Christ should do whatever was required of us by virtue of any Law, when he was neither Husband, Wife, Father, Merchant, Soldier, Captain; much less a Temporal Prince;