The safety of appearing at the day of judgement, in the righteousness of Christ

This may be cleared up by these Considerations: 1. This mercy of giving Christ to dye for us, was the first thing wherein God laid out himself for our salvation: when a person has laid out himself much, and been at great expense for the accomplishing of a design, tis a disappointment to fail of it: and his expense is thereby many times lost: but God had not been before this at any expense for mans salvation: this was the first thing wherein God laid out himself for our salvation: with respect to us who live in these latter days; the death of Christ was actually before any other endeavours for our salvation: and with respect to those Elect that lived before the coming of Christ, his death was virtually before any other expense for their salvation, Rev 3.8. 2. If God had not sent his Son to dye, yet he needed not to have lost the glory of his laying out of his wisdom, power and goodness in mans Creation: what he had expended that way would not have been lost: but he would have recovered his glory in mans ruin, Prov. 16.4. ⟨p. 82⟩3, God could have found other ways to have glorified his grace: though God was under no necessity of having any declarative glory: neither does he glorifie himself ad ultimum virium, to the utmost of his power: yet it does please him to glorify his Attributes; and he might have honoured his mercy in the salvation of fallen Angels; they were capable of Salvation, and it would have been a wonderful exalting of Gods grace to have saved them.

This may be cleared up by these Considerations: 1. This mercy of giving Christ to dye for us, was the first thing wherein God laved out himself for our salvation: when a person has layed out himself much, and been at great expence for the accomplishing of a design, tis a disappointment to fail of it: and his expence is thereby many times lost: but God had not been before this at any expence for mans salvation: this was the first thing wherein God layed out himself for our salvation: with respect to us who live in these latter dayes; the death of Christ was actually before any other endeavours for our salvation: and with respect to those Elect that lived before the coming of Christ, his death was vertually before any other expence for their salvation, Rev 3.8. 2. If God had not sent his Son to dye, yet he needed not to have lost the glory of his laying out of his wisdom, power and goodness in mans Creation: what he had expended that way would not have been lost: but he would have recovered his glory in mans ruine,