The Doctor asserts positively,1 that Christ, as Mediator did do whatever the Law required at our hands; and I can never persuade my self, that he should exclude the fulfilling of the Law from the Laws of his Mediation: But then, as the Author would have it, we run upon another rock; that is, If what Christ did as Mediator be imputed to us, then we must become Mediators, and much such an Argument against imputed ⟨p. 434⟩Righteousness, we have in Bellarmine, whose words are these,2 Si vere imputaretur nobis Christi justitia, profectò non minus justi haberi censerique deberemus quàm ipse Christus, proinde deberemus dici atque haberi Redemptores & salvatores mundi. Upon which Bishop Davenant gives this censure, that it is ridicula illatio; The Righteousness of Christ was in himself by inhesion, or from him by personal action; but it is ours only by imputation; and who ever heard of a Mediator, made such by imputation, or by that Righteousness, which another performed for him? The Righteousness of Christ is imputed to us; but what, Secundum totam latitudinem, to all intents and purposes whatsoever? Oh no, it is not imputed to us, to do that which is impossible, to make us Mediators, or the Efficients of it, but so far only as to make us Righteous before God; by the imputation of it, we are justified and saved, but we are not Mediators and Saviours: The Righteousness is formally Christ's the one Mediators; but materially it becomes ours by imputation, so far forth as to justify us: The Righteousness it self is one thing, and ⟨p. 435⟩the manner of application another: Bellarmine himself, who made the objection, can say in another place, passiones Christi, & quae sunt infiniti pretii, 3applicari per indulgentias finiso modo: So say I, the Righteousness of Christ is imputed to us, not to all intents and purposes; not to translate a Mediatorship upon us, but in a limited manner, to justify and save us, who are the receivers of it: It is imputed to every Believer, but it makes never an one of them, God-man; and no man that is a mere man, or less than God-man can be an expiating and saving Mediator; or, if he could, he could not be such without a Divine Call or Ordination, which no Believer can pretend to: The Mediatorship is totally, solely Christ's; but the Righteousness which he performed, is so far imputed to us, as to justify and save us:
The Doctor asserts positively,1 that Christ, as Mediator did do whatever the Law required at our hands; and I can never perswade my self, that he should exclude the fulfilling of the Law from the Laws of his Mediation: But then, as the Author would have it, we run upon another rock; that is, If what Christ did as Mediator be imputed to us, then we must become Mediators, and much such an Argument against imputed ⟨p. 434⟩Righteousness, we have in Bellarmine, whose words are these,2 Si vere imputaretur nobis Christi justitia, profectò non minus justi haberi censerique deberemus quàm ipse Christus, proinde deberemus dici atque haberi Redemptores & salvatores mundi. Upon which Bishop Davenant gives this censure, that it is ridicula illatio; The Righteousness of Christ was in himself by inhesion, or from him by personal action; but it is ours only by imputation; and who ever heard of a Mediator, made such by imputation, or by that Righteousness, which another performed for him? The Righteousness of Christ is imputed to us; but what, Secundum totam latitudinem, to all intents and purposes whatsoever? Oh no, it is not imputed to us, to do that which is impossible, to make us Mediators, or the Efficients of it, but so far only as to make us Righteous before God; by the imputation of it, we are justified and saved, but we are not Mediators and Saviours: The Righteousness is formally Christ's the one Mediators; but materially it becomes ours by imputation, so far forth as to justifie us: The Righteousness it self is one thing, and ⟨p. 435⟩the manner of application another: Bellarmine himself, who made the objection, can say in another place, passiones Christi, & quae sunt infiniti pretii, 3applicari per indulgentias finiso modo: So say I, the Righteousness of Christ is imputed to us, not to all intents and purposes; not to translate a Mediatorship upon us, but in a limited manner, to justifie and save us, who are the receivers of it: It is imputed to every Believer, but it makes never an one of them, God-man; and no man that is a meer man, or less than God-man can be an expiating and saving Mediator; or, if he could, he could not be such without a Divine Call or Ordination, which no Believer can pretend to: The Mediatorship is totally, solely Christ's; but the Righteousness which he performed, is so far imputed to us, as to justifie and save us:
- 1Answer.
- 2De justif. l. 2. cap. 7.
- 3De Indulgent. l. •. cap. 4.
