A55308:39
Speculum theologiæ in Christo, or, A view of some divine truths which are either…
Speculum theologiæ in Christo, or, A view of some divine truths which are either practically exemplified in Jesus Christ, set forth in the Gospel, or may be reasonably deduced from thence / by Edward Polhill ..., Esq.
London: printed by A.M. and R.R. for Tho. Cockerill, 1678
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.
5. That poor lapsed man with his blind eyes and hard heart, utterly uncapable in himself of Heaven, may be made meet for it; there was in Christs sufferings a conjunction of Satisfaction and Merit; Justice was compensated, and Grace impetrated. Indeed the Socinians, blind with their own corrupt reason, cannot see how these two should stand together,1 Satisfaction being the payment of a just debt, and Merit the doing of an undue work. To which I answer: It is true, that when one pays a finite sum for his own debt, there is not, there cannot be a merit in it; but when Jesus Christ paid down sufferings of an infinite value for us, there cannot but be an immense merit in them. Infinity is an Ocean, and may run over in effects as far as it pleases; those sufferings had a kind of Infinity in them, enough to pay divine Justice, and over and above by a redundance of merit to purchase all grace for us. Hence the Apostle saith, That the Holy Ghost is shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, Tit. 3.6. ⟨p. 18⟩Christ ascended up to Heaven in the glory of his Merits, and from thence poured down the Holy Spirit on men, that their blind eyes might be opened upon the mysteries of the Gospel, and their hard hearts might be melted into repentance. Thus a fair way is opened to make fallen man capable of Eternal Life.
5. That poor lapsed man with his blind eyes and hard heart, utterly uncapable in himself of Heaven, may be made meet for it; there was in Christs sufferings a conjunction of Satisfaction and Merit; Justice was compensated, and Grace impetrated. Indeed the Socinians, blind with their own corrupt reason, cannot see how these two should stand together,1 Satisfaction being the payment of a just debt, and Merit the doing of an undue work. To which I answer: It is true, that when one pays a finite sum for his own debt, there is not, there cannot be a merit in it; but when Jesus Christ paid down sufferings of an infinite value for us, there cannot but be an immense merit in them. Infinity is an Ocean, and may run over in effects as far as it pleases; those sufferings had a kind of Infinity in them, enough to pay divine Justice, and over and above by a redundance of merit to purchase all grace for us. Hence the Apostle saith, That the Holy Ghost is shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ,