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

The obedience of Christ's life was one thing, ¹which made his Sacrifice so meritorious, which was the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and spot; And this is the most that can be made of, Rom. 5.18, 19. As by the offence of one judgement came upon all to condemnation: So by the ⟨p. 473⟩Righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all to justification of life: For as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners; so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous: There is no necessity of expounding this, [Greek or Hebrew], obedience, of the Righteousness of Christ's life; for it may well signify no more than the obedience of his death, notwithstanding the Doctors distinction, that doing is one thing, and suffering another: For the Apostle tells us, That he became obedient unto death [Greek or Hebrew], Phil. 2.8. And his offering himself in Sacrifice, is called doing God's will, Heb. 10.9, 10. And whether this be properly said or not, I will leave the Doctor to dispute with the Apostle: It is plain, that in this Chapter there is no express mention made of any act of obedience and righteousness, whereby we are reconciled to God: But only his dying for us, in vers. 8. the Apostle tells us, That Christ dyed for us: In vers. 9. That we are justified by his blood: In the 10. That we are reconciled by his death; which makes it more than probable, that by his Righteousness and Obedience here, the Apostle understands his death and sufferings; because this was the subject of his discourse; but ⟨p. 474⟩yet these expressions, His righteousness and obedience, seem to take in the whole compass of his obedience in doing and suffering the Will of God; and the meaning of the words is this: That as God was so highly displeased with Adam's sin, that he entailed a great many evils and miseries, and death it self upon his posterity for his sake: So God was so well pleased with the obedience of Christ's life and death, that he bestows the rewards of Righteousness on those who according to the rigour of the Law are not righteous; that for Christ's sake he hath made a new Covenant of Grace, which pardons our past sins, and rewards a sincere though imperfect obedience: For [Greek or Hebrew], shall be made righteous, is the same with [Greek or Hebrew], shall be justified; That is, treated like righteous persons: