1. Personal transactions between the Father and Son about the redemption of mankind, federal. 2. The covenants between God and man explained. 3. "Fœdus," a covenant, whence so called. 4. Συνθήκη, why not used by the LXX. 5. The various use of בְּרִית in the Scriptures—The tables of stone, how called the covenant; and the ark—The same use of συνθήκη —The certain nature of a covenant not precisely signified by this word. 6. Covenants how ratified of old. 7. Things required to a complete and proper covenant. 8. Of covenants with respect unto personal services. 9. The covenant between Father and Son express—How therein the Father is a God unto him, and the Son less than the Father. 10. Joint counsel of the Father and Son in this covenant, as the foundation of it. 11. The will of the Father in this covenant absolutely free. 12. The will of the Son engaged in this covenant—The Son of God undertakes for himself when clothed with our nature. 13. The will of God how the same in Father and Son, yet acting distinctly in their distinct persons. 14. Things disposed of in a covenant to be in the power of them that make it—This they may be two ways: first, absolutely; secondly, by virtue of the compact itself. 15. The salvation of sinners the matter of this covenant, or the thing disposed of, to the mutual complacency of Father and Son. 16. The general end of this covenant the manifestation of the glory of God—Wherein that consists—What divine properties are peculiarly glorified thereby. 17. The especial glory of the Son the end of this covenant; what it is. 18. Means and way of entering into this covenant—Promises made to the Son, as incarnate, of assistance, acceptance and glory—The true nature of the merit of Christ. 19. Things prescribed to the Lord Christ in this covenant reduced to three heads—The sacred spring of his priesthood discovered. 20. The original reason and nature of the priesthood of Christ—Occasion and use of priesthood and sacrifices under the law. 21. The sum of the whole—Necessity of Christ's priesthood.
1. OUR next inquiry is after the nature of those eternal transactions which, in general, we have declared from the Scripture in our foregoing Exercitation. And these were carried on "per modum fœderis," "by way of covenant," compact, and mutual agreement, between the Father and the Son; for although it should seem that because they are single acts of the same divine understanding and will, they cannot be properly federal, yet because those properties of the divine nature are acted distinctly in the distinct persons, they have in them the nature of a covenant. Besides, there is in them a supposition of the susception of our human nature into personal union with the Son. On the consideration hereof he comes to have an absolute distinct interest, and to undertake for that which is his own work peculiarly. And therefore are those counsels of the will of God, wherein lies the foundation of the priesthood of Christ, expressly declared as a covenant in the Scripture; for there is in them a respect unto various objects and various effects, disposed into a federal relation one to another. I shall therefore, in the first place, manifest that such a covenant there was between the Father and the Son, in order to the work of his mediation, called therefore the covenant of the Mediator or Redeemer; and afterwards I shall insist on that in it in particular which is the original of his priesthood.
2. First, we must distinguish between the covenant that God made with men concerning Christ, and the covenant that he made with his Son concerning men. That God created man in and under the terms and law of a covenant, with a prescription of duties and promise of reward, is by all acknowledged. After the fall he entered into another covenant with mankind, which, from the principle, nature, and end of it, is commonly called the covenant of grace. This, under several forms of external administration, hath continued ever since in force, and shall do so to the consummation of all things. And the nature of this covenant, as being among the principal concernments of religion, hath been abundantly declared and explained by many. The consideration of it is not our present business. That the Lord Jesus Christ was the principal subjectmatter of this covenant, the undertaker in it and surety of it, the Scriptures expressly declare: for the great promise of it was concerning him and his mediation, with the benefits that should redound unto mankind thereby in grace and glory; and the preceptive part of it required obedience in and unto him new and distinct from that which was exacted by the law of creation, although enwrapping all the commands thereof also. And he was the surety of it, in that he undertook unto God whatever by the terms of the covenant was to be done for man, to accomplish it in his own person, and whatever was to be done in and by man, to effect it by his own Spirit and grace; that so the covenant on every side might be firm and stable, and the ends of it fulfilled. This is not that which at present we inquire into; but it is the personal compact that was between the Father and the Son before the world was, as it is revealed in the Scripture, that is to be declared.
3. To clear things in our way, we must treat somewhat of the name and nature of a covenant in general. The Hebrews call a covenant בְּרִית, the Greeks συνθήκη, and the Latins "fœdus;" the consideration of which words may be of some use, because of the original and most famous translations of the Scripture. "Fœdus" some deduce "a feriendo," from "striking." And this was from the manner of making covenants, by the striking of the beast to be sacrificed in their confirmation; for all solemn covenants were always confirmed by sacrifice, especially between God and his people. Hence are they said to "make a covenant with him by sacrifice," Ps. 50:5, offering sacrifice in the solemn confirmation of it. And when God solemnly confirmed his covenant with Abraham, he did it by causing a token of his presence to pass between the pieces of the beasts provided for sacrifice, Gen. 15:17, 18. So when he made a covenant with Noah, it was ratified by sacrifice, Gen. 8:20–22, 9:9, 10. And to look backwards, it is not improbable but that, upon the giving of the first promise, and laying the foundation of the new covenant therein, Adam offered the beasts in sacrifice with whose skins he was clothed. And how the old covenant at Horeb was dedicated with the blood of sacrifices, our apostle declares, Heb. 9:18–20, from Exod. 24:5–8. And all this was to let us know that no covenant could ever be made between God and man, after the entrance of sin, but upon the account of that great sacrifice of our High Priest which by those others was represented. Hence is the phrase, "fœdera ferire," "to strike a covenant:" Cicero pro Cœlio, [cap. xiv.,] "Ideone ego pacem Pyrrhi diremi, ut tu amorum turpissimorum quotidie fœdera ferires?" "Fœdera," "ferire," and "percutere," have the same rise and occasion. And the Hebrews also express the making of a covenant by striking hands, though with respect unto another ceremony. Some derive the word "a porcâ fœde cæsâ;" for a hog was clean in the devil's sacrifices:—
"Cæsâ jungebant fœdera porcâ."—Virg. Æn., viii, 641.
And hence was the ancient formula of ratifying covenants by the striking and therewith killing of a hog, mentioned by the Roman historian, Liv. 1:24, "Qui prior defexit publico consilio dolo malo, tu illum Jupiter sic ferito, ut ego hunc porcum hodie feriam; tantoque magis ferito quanto magis potes pollesque;" upon the pronouncing of which words he killed the hog with a stone. And there was the same intention among them who, in making a covenant, cut a beast in pieces, laying one equal part against another, and so passing between them; for they imprecated as it were upon themselves that they might be so destroyed and cut into pieces if they stood not unto the terms of the covenant. See Jer. 34:18–20, where respect is had to the covenant made with the king of Babylon. But in the use and signification of this word we are not much concerned.
4. The Greek word is συνθήκη, and so it is constantly used in all good authors for a solemn covenant between nations and persons. Only the translation of the LXX. takes no notice of it; for observing that בְּרִית, "berith," in the Hebrew was of a larger signification, applied unto things of another nature than συνθήκη (denoting a precise compact or convention) could be extended unto, they rendered it constantly by διαθήκη, whereof we must treat elsewhere. Gen. 14:13, they render בַּעֲלֵי בְרִית, "covenanters," by συνωμόται, "confederati," or "conjurati," "confederates sworn together." Wherefore of the word συνθήκη there is no use in this matter; and the nature of the thing intended must be inquired into.
5. בְּרִית is largely and variously used in the Old Testament, nor are learned men agreed from what original it is derived. בָּרָא, and בָּרָה, and בָּרַר, are considered to this purpose.
Sometimes it intends no more but peace and agreement, although there were no compact or convention unto that purpose: for this is the end of all covenants, which are of three sorts, as the Macedonian ambassador declared to the Romans; for either they are between the conqueror and the conquered, or between enemies in equal power, or between those who were never engaged in enmity. The end of all these sorts of covenants is mutual peace and security. Hence they are expressed by בְּרִית, "a covenant." So Job 5:23, בְרִיתֶךָ הַשָּדֶה עִם־אַכְנֵי;—"Thy covenant shall be with the stones of the field." Say we, "Thy league shall be;" that is, 'Thou shalt have no hurt from them.' And, Hos. 2:18, a covenant is said to be made with the beasts of the field, and the fowls of heaven, and the creeping things of the earth. Security from damage by them, and their quiet use, is called a covenant metonymically and metaphorically, because peace and agreement are the end of covenants.
Secondly, Synecdochically, the law written on the two tables of stone was called the covenant: Exod. 34:28, "He wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments." Now, this law was purely preceptive, and an effect of sovereign authority, yet is it called a covenant. But this it is not absolutely in its own nature, seeing no mere precept, nor system of precepts as such, nor any mere promise, can be a covenant properly so called; but it was a principal part of God's covenant with the people, when accepted by them as the rule of their obedience, with respect unto the promises wherewith it was accompanied. Hence the tables of stone whereon this law was written are called "The tables of the 9:11, ת̇לֻחו הָאֲבָנִים לֻחֹת אֶת־שְׁנַי covenant:" Deut. הַבְּרִית;—"The two tables of stone, the tables of the covenant." These tables were first made by God himself, Exod. 31:18, and given into the hands of Moses; and when they were broken, he was commanded פָּסֹל, to effigiate them, or cut stones after their image, into their likeness, for the first were seen only by himself, Deut. 10:11; Exod. 34:1. And when they were broken, whereby their use and signification ceased, they were not kept as relics, though cut and written by the finger or divine power of God,—which doubtless the superstition of succeeding ages would have attempted; but the true measure of the sacredness of any thing external is use by divine appointment. And also the ark was hence called "the ark of the covenant," and sometimes "the covenant" itself, because the two tables of stone, the tables of the covenant, were in it, 1 Kings 8:9.
So among the Grecians, the tables or rolls wherein covenants were written, engraven, or enrolled, were called συνθῆκαι. So Demosthenes, Κατὰ Ὀλμπιοδ. κεφ. ιβʼ: Συγχωρῶ ἀνοιχθῆναι τάς συνθήκας ἐνταυθοῖ ἐπί τοῦ δικαστηριου·—"I require that the covenants may be opened here in the court," or "before the judgment-seat;" that is, the rolls wherein the agreement was written. And Aristot. Rhetor. lib. i.: Οποῖοι γάρ ἄν τινες ὦσιν οἱ ἐπιγεγραμμένοι, ἢ φυλάττοντες, τούτοις αἱ συνθῆκαι πισταί εἰσι· —"Covenants are of the same credit with those that wrote and keep them;" that is, the writings wherein such conventions are contained. For covenants that were solemnly entered into between nations were engraven in brass, as the league and covenant made between the Romans and Jews in the days of Judas Maccabeus, 1 Mac. 8:22; or in marble, as that of the Magnesians and Smyrnians, illustrated by the learned Selden; and other covenants were enrolled in parchment by public notaries.
Thirdly, An absolute promise is also called בְּרִית, "a covenant," the covenant of God: Isa. 59:21, "As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth." And God also calls his decree constitutive of the law of nature and its continuance his covenant: Jer. 33:20, "Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, that there should not be day and night in their season."
It is therefore certain that where God speaks of his covenant, we cannot conclude that whatever belongs unto a perfect, complete covenant is therein intended. And they do but deceive themselves who, from the name of a covenant between God and man, do conclude always unto the nature and conditions of it; for the word is used in great variety, and what is intended by it must be learned from the subject-matter treated of, seeing there is no precept or promise of God but may be so called.
6. In the making of covenants between men, yea, in the covenant of God with men, besides that they were always conceived "verbis expressis," there was some sign and token added, for their confirmation. This was generally the slaying of some creature, and the dividing of it into parts, before mentioned. Hence "sancire fœdus" and "sanctio fœderis" are "a sanguine," from the blood shed in their confirmation. Of the slaying of a beast there is mention in all who have spoken of ancient covenants. So was it in that between the Romans and Albans, whose form is reported by Livy, as that whose tradition was of greatest antiquity among them. And there are likewise instances of the division of the slain beasts into two parts, like what we observed before concerning Abraham, and the princes of Judah in Jeremiah: Οἱ Μολοττοὶ ἐν τοῖς ὀρκωμοσίαις κατακόπτοντες εἰς μικρά τοῦς βοῦς τὰς συνθήκας ἐποιούντο, Herod.;—"The Molossians in their confederations cut oxen into small pieces, and so entered into covenants." And how these pieces or parts were disposed Livy declares, lib. xxxix.: "Prior pars ad dextram cum extis, posterior ad lævam viæ ponitur; inter hanc divisam hostiam copiæ armatæ traducuntur." And hence it is that כְּרֹת, which signifies "to cut" or "divide," is used in the Scripture absolutely for the making of a covenant, without any addition of 1 , בְּרִית Sam. 20:16, 1 Kings 8:9. And although such outward things did never belong unto the essence of a covenant, yet were they useful significations of fidelity, intended and accepted in the performance of what was engaged in it; and therefore God himself never made a covenant with men but he always gave them a token and visible pledge thereof. And whosoever is interested in the covenant itself hath thereby a right unto and is obliged to the use of the sign or token, according to God's appointment.
7. An absolutely complete covenant is a voluntary convention, pact, or agreement, between distinct persons, about the ordering and disposal of things in their power, unto their mutual concern and advantage:—
(1.) Distinct persons are required unto a covenant, for it is a mutual compact. As "a mediator is not of one,"—that is, there must be several parties, and those at variance, or there is no room for the interposition of a mediator, Gal. 3:20,—so a covenant, properly so called, is not of one. In the large sense wherein בְּרִית is taken, a man's resolution in himself with respect unto any especial end or purpose may be called his covenant, as Job 31:1, "I made a covenant with mine eyes." And so God calleth his purpose or decree concerning the orderly course of nature in the instance before given. But a covenant, properly so called, is the convention or agreement of two persons or more.
(2.) This agreement must be voluntary and of choice upon the election of the terms convented about. Hence בְּרִית is by some derived from בָּרָא, which signifies "to choose" or "elect;" for such choice is the foundation of all solemn covenants. What is properly so is founded on a free election of the terms of it, upon due consideration and a right judgment made of them. Hence, when one people is broken in war or subdued by another, who prescribe terms unto them, which they are forced as it were to accept for the present necessity, it is but an imperfect covenant, and, as things are in the world, not like to be firm or stable. So some legates answered in the senate of Rome when their people were subdued, "Pacem habebitis qualem dederitis; si bonam, firmam et stabilem, sin haud diuturnam."
(3.) The matter of every righteous and complete covenant must be of things in the power of them who convent and agree about them; otherwise any, yea the most solemn compact, is vain and ineffectual. A son or daughter in their father's house, and under his care, making a vow or covenant for the disposal of themselves, can give no force unto it, because they are not in their own power. Hence, when God invites and takes men into the covenant of grace, whereunto belongs a restipulation of faith and obedience, which are not absolutely in their own power, that the covenant may be firm and stable he takes upon himself to enable them thereunto; and the efficacy of his grace unto that purpose is of the nature of the covenant. Hence, when men enter into any compact wherein one party takes on itself the performance of that which the other thinks to be, but is not, really in its power, there is dolus malus in it, which enervates and disannuls the covenant itself. And many such compacts were rescinded by the senate and people of Rome, which were made by their generals without their consent; as those with the Gauls who besieged the Capitol, and with the Samnites, at the Furcæ Caudinæ.
Lastly, The end of a covenant is the disposal of the things about which the covenant is made to the mutual content and satisfaction of all persons concerned. Hence was the ancient form, "Quod felix faustumque sit huic et illi populo." If either party be absolutely and finally detrimented by it, it is no absolute, free, or voluntary covenant, but an agreement of a mixed nature, where the consent of one party is given only for the avoiding of a greater inconvenience. And these things we shall find of use in our progress.
8. As all these things concur in every equal compact, so there is an especial kind of covenant, depending solely on the personal undertakings and services of one party in order unto the common ends of the covenant, or the mutual satisfaction of the covenanters. So it is in all agreements where any thing is distinctly and peculiarly required of one party. And such covenants have three things in them:—(1.) A proposal of service; (2.) A promise of reward; (3.) An acceptance of the proposal, with a restipulation of obedience out of respect unto the reward. And this indispensably introduceth an inequality and subordination in the covenanters as to the common ends of the covenant, however on other accounts they may be equal; for he who prescribes the duties which are required in the covenant, and giveth the promises of either assistance in them or a reward upon them, is therein and so far superior unto him, or greater than he who observeth his prescriptions and trusteth unto his promises. Of this nature is that divine transaction that was between the Father and Son about the redemption of mankind. There was in it a prescription of personal services, with a promise of reward; and all the other conditions, also, of a complete covenant before laid down are observed therein. And this we must inquire into, as that wherein doth lie the foundation and original of the priesthood of Christ.
9. First, Unto a proper covenant it is required that it be made between distinct persons. Such have I elsewhere proved the Father and Son to be, and in this discourse I do take that fundamental principle of our profession as granted. That there were eternal transactions in general between those distinct persons, with respect unto the salvation of mankind, hath been evinced in the foregoing Exercitation. That these were federal, or had in them the nature of a covenant, is now further to be manifested. And in general this is that which the Scripture intends, where God, that is the Father, is called by the Son his God, and where he says that he will be unto him a God and a Father; for this expression of being a God unto any one is declarative of a covenant, and is the word whereby God constantly declares his relation unto any in a way of covenant, Jer. 31:33, 32:38; Hos. 2:23.
For God, declaring that he will be a God unto any, engageth himself unto the exercise of his holy properties, which belong unto him as God, in their behalf and for their good; and this is not without an engagement of obedience from them. Now, this declaration the Scripture abounds in: Ps. 16:2, "Thou hast said unto the LORD, Thou art my Lord." These are the words of the Son unto the Father, as is evident from verses 9–11. Ps. 22:1, "My God, my God." Ps. 40:8, "I delight to do thy will, O my God." Ps. 45:7, "God, thy God, hath anointed thee." Micah 5:4, "He shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God." John 20:17, "I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God." Rev. 3:12, "I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God; … and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God." All which expressions argue both a covenant and a subordination therein.
And on this account it is that our Saviour says his Father is greater than he, John 14:28. This place, I confess, the ancients expound unanimously of the human nature only, to obviate the Arians, who ascribed unto him a divine nature, but made, and absolutely in itself inferior to the nature of God. But the inferiority of the human nature unto God or the Father is a thing so unquestionable as needed no declaration or solemn attestation, and the mention of it is no way suited unto the design of the place. But our Saviour speaks with respect unto the covenant engagement that was between the Father and himself as to the work which he had to do: for therein, as we shall further manifest, the Father was the prescriber, the promiser, and lawgiver; and the Son was the undertaker upon his prescription, law, and promises. He is, indeed, in respect of his divine personality, said to be "God of God." No more is intended hereby but that the person of the Son, as to his personality, was of the person of the Father, who communicated his nature and life unto him by eternal generation. But the Father on that account is not said to be his God, or to be a God unto him, which includes the acting of divine properties on his behalf, and a dependence on the other side on him who is so a God unto him. And this hath its sole foundation on that covenant and the execution of it which we are in the consideration of.
10. Again; the transactions before insisted on and declared are proposed to have been by the way of "counsel," for the accomplishment of the end designed in a covenant: Zech. 6:13, בֶּין תִּהְיֶה שָׁלוֹם וַעֲצַת שְׁנֵיהֶם. The counsel about peace-making between God and man was "between them both;" that is, the two persons spoken of,—namely, the Lord Jehovah, and he who was to be צֶמַח, "The Branch." And this was not spoken of him absolutely as he was a man, or was to be a man, for so there was not properly עֵצָה, or "counsel," between God and him; "for who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?" Rom. 11:34. And, besides, the Son in his human nature was merely the servant of the Father to do his will, Isa. 42:1. But God takes this counsel with him as he was his eternal Wisdom, only with respect unto his future incarnation; for therein he was to be both the "Branch of the LORD," and "the fruit of the earth," Isa. 4:2. Hereunto regard also is had in his name: Isa 9:6, "He shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor;" for these titles, with those that follow, do not absolutely denote properties of the divine nature, though they are such divine titles and attributes as cannot be ascribed unto any but to him who is God; but there is in them a respect unto the work which he had to do as he was to be a "child born" and "a son given" unto us. And on the same account is he called "The everlasting Father," a name not proper unto the person of the Son with mere respect unto his personality. There is, therefore, a regard in it unto the work he had to do, which was to be a father unto all the elect of God. And therein also was he "The Prince of Peace,"—he who is the procurer and establisher of peace between God and mankind. On the same account God speaking of him, says that he is עֲמִיתִי נֶּבֶר רֹעִי,—"My shepherd, and the man my fellow," Zech. 13:7; such an one as with whom he had sweetened and rejoiced in secret counsel, as Ps. 55:14, according unto what was before declared on Prov. 8:30, 31.
11. Particularly, the will of the Father and Son concurred in this matter; which was necessary, that the covenant might be voluntary and of choice. And the original of the whole is referred to the will of the Father constantly. Hence our Lord Jesus Christ on all occasions declares solemnly that he came to do the will of the Father: "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God," Ps. 40:6–8; Heb. 10:5–10; for in this agreement the part of the enjoiner, prescriber, and promiser, whose will in all things is to be attended unto, is on the Father. And his will was naturally at a perfect liberty from engaging in that way of salvation which he accomplished by Christ. He was at liberty to have left all mankind under sin and the curse, as he did all the angels that fell; he was at liberty utterly to have destroyed the race of mankind that sprang from Adam in his fallen estate, either in the root of them, or in the branches when multiplied, as he almost did in the flood, and have created another stock or race of them unto his glory. And hence the acting of his will herein is expressed by grace,—which is free, or it is not grace,—and is said to proceed from love acting by choice; all arguing the highest liberty in the will of the Father, John 3:16; Eph. 1:6.
And the same is further evidenced by the exercise of his authority, both in the commission and commands that he gave unto the Son, as incarnate, for the discharge of the work that he had undertaken; for none puts forth his authority but voluntarily, or by and according unto his own will. Now, he both sent the Son, and sealed him, and gave him commands; which are all acts of choice and liberty, proceeding from sovereignty. Let none, then, once imagine that this work of entering into covenant about the salvation of mankind was any way necessary unto God, or that it was required by virtue of any of the essential properties of his nature, so that he must have done against them in doing otherwise. God was herein absolutely free, as he was also in his making of all things out of nothing. He could have left it undone without the least disadvantage unto his essential glory or contrariety unto his holy nature. Whatever, therefore, we may afterwards assert concerning the necessity of satisfaction to be given unto his justice, upon the supposition of this covenant, yet the entering into this covenant, and consequently all that ensued thereon, is absolutely resolved into the mere will and grace of God.
12. The will of the Son also was distinct herein. In his divine nature and will he undertook voluntarily for the work of his person when the human nature should be united thereunto, which he determined to assume; for what is spoken of the second person is spoken with respect unto his purpose to assume our nature, for the obedience whereof, in all that was to be done upon it or by it, he undertook. This the Scripture fully declares, and that for a double end:—First, To demonstrate that the things which he underwent in his human nature were just and equal, inasmuch as himself whose it was voluntarily consented thereunto. Secondly, To manifest that those very acts which he had in command from his Father were no less the acts of his own will. Wherefore, as it is said that the Father loved us, and gave his Son to die for us; so also it is said that the Son loved us, and gave himself for us, and washed us in his own blood. These things proceeded from and were founded in the will of the Son of God; and it was an act of perfect liberty in him to engage into his peculiar concernments in this covenant. What he did, he did by choice, in a way of condescension and love. And this his voluntary susception of the discharge of what he was to perform, according to the nature and terms of this covenant, was the ground of the authoritative mission, sealing, and commanding, of the Father towards him. See Ps. 60:7, 8; Heb. 10:5; John 10:17, 18. And whatever is expressed in the Scripture concerning the will of the human nature of Christ, as it was engaged in and bent upon its work, it is but a representation of the will of the Son of God when he engaged into this work from eternity. So then he freely undertook to do and suffer whatever on his part was required; and therein owns himself the servant of the Father, because he would obey his will and serve his purposes in the nature which he would assume for that end, Isa. 42:1, 6, 49:8, 9; Zech. 13:7; and therein acknowledgeth him to be his Lord, Ps. 16:2, unto whom he owed all homage and obedience: for this mind was in him, that whereas he was in the form of God, he humbled himself unto this work, Phil. 2:5–8, and by his own voluntary consent was engaged therein. Whereas, therefore, he had a sovereign and absolute power over his own human nature when assumed, whatever he submitted unto, it was no injury unto him, nor injustice in God to lay it on him.
13. But this sacred truth must be cleared from an objection where unto it seems obnoxious, before we do proceed. "The will is a natural property, and therefore in the divine essence it is but one. The Father, Son, and Spirit, have not distinct wills. They are one God, and God's will is one, as being an essential property of his nature; and therefore are there two wills in the one person of Christ, whereas there is but one will in the three persons of the Trinity. How, then, can it be said that the will of the Father and the will of the Son did concur distinctly in the making of this covenant?"
This difficulty may be solved from what hath been already declared; for such is the distinction of the persons in the unity of the divine essence, as that they act in natural and essential acts reciprocally one towards another,—namely, in understanding, love, and the like; they know and mutually love each other. And as they subsist distinctly, so they also act distinctly in those works which are of external operation. And whereas all these acts and operations, whether reciprocal or external, are either with a will or from a freedom of will and choice, the will of God in each person, as to the peculiar acts ascribed unto him, is his will therein peculiarly and eminently, though not exclusively to the other persons, by reason of their mutual in-being. The will of God as to the peculiar actings of the Father in this matter is the will of the Father, and the will of God with regard unto the peculiar actings of the Son is the will of the Son; not by a distinction of sundry wills, but by the distinct application of the same will unto its distinct acts in the persons of the Father and the Son. And in this respect the covenant whereof we treat differeth from a pure decree; for from these distinct actings of the will of God in the Father and the Son there doth arise a new habitude or relation, which is not natural or necessary unto them, but freely taken on them. And by virtue hereof were all believers saved from the foundation of the world, upon the account of the interposition of the Son of God antecedently unto his exhibition in the flesh; for hence was he esteemed to have done and suffered what he had undertaken so to do, and which, through faith, was imputed unto them that did believe.
14. Moreover, a covenant must be about the disposal of things in the power of them that enter into it, otherwise it is null or fraudulent. And thus things may be two ways;—first, Absolutely; secondly, By virtue of some condition or something in the nature of the covenant itself.
(1.) Things are absolutely in the power of persons, when they are completely at their disposal antecedently unto the consideration of any covenant or agreement about them; as in the covenant of marriage, where the several persons engaging are sui juris,—they have an absolute power in themselves to dispose of their own persons with respect unto the ends of marriage. So it is in all covenants. When the things to be disposed of according to the limitations of the covenant are lawful and good antecedently unto any agreement made about them, and because they are in the power of the covenanters, they may be disposed of according to the terms of the compact. So was it in this covenant. To do good unto mankind, to bring them unto the enjoyment of himself, was absolutely in the power of the Father. And it was in the power of the Son to assume human nature, which becoming thereby peculiarly his own, he might dispose of it unto what end he pleased, saving the union which ensued on its assumption, for this was indissoluble.
(2.) Again, some things are made lawful or good, or suited unto the glory, honour, or satisfaction and complacency, of them that make the covenant, by virtue of somewhat arising in or from the covenant itself. And of this sort are most of the things that are disposed in the covenant between the Father and the Son under consideration. They become good and desirable, and suited unto their glory and honour, not as considered absolutely and in themselves, but with respect unto that order, dependence, and mutual relation, that they are cast into by and in the covenant.
Such was the penal suffering of the human nature of Christ under the sentence and curse of the law. This in itself absolutely considered, without respect unto the ends of the covenant, would neither have been good in itself, nor have had any tendency unto the glory of God; for what excellency of the nature of God could have been demonstrated in the penal sufferings of one absolutely and in all respects innocent? Nay, it was utterly impossible that an innocent person, considered absolutely as such, should suffer penally under the sentence and curse of the law; for the law denounceth punishment unto no such person. Guilt and punishment are related; and where the one is not, real, or supposed, or imputed, the other cannot be. But now, in the terms of this covenant, leading unto the limitations and use of these sufferings, they are made good, and tend unto the glory of God, as we shall see. So the pardoning and saving of sinners absolutely could have had no tendency unto the glory of God; for what evidence of righteousness would there have been therein, that the great Ruler of all the world should pass by the offences of men without animadverting upon them? What justice would have appeared, or what demonstration of the holiness of the nature of God would there have been therein? Besides, it was impossible, seeing it is the judgment of God that they who commit sin are worthy of death. But, as we shall see, through the terms and conditions of this covenant, this is rendered righteous, holy, and good, and eminently conducing to the glory of God.
15. The matter of this covenant, or the things and ends about which and for which it was entered into, are nextly to be considered. These are the things which, as we observed before, are to be disposed of unto the honour, and as it were mutual advantage, of them that make the covenant. And the matter of this covenant in general is the saving of sinners, in and by ways and means suited unto the manifestation of the glory of God. So it is compendiously expressed where the execution of it is declared, John 3:16, "God so loved the world, that he gave his onlybegotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." And upon the coming of the Son into the world he was called Jesus, because he was to "save his people from their sins," Matt. 1:21; even Jesus the deliverer, who saves us from the wrath to come, 1 Thess. 1:10. To declare this design of God, or his will and purpose in and by Jesus Christ to save his elect from sin and death, to bring his many sons unto glory, or the full enjoyment of himself unto eternity, is the principal design of the whole Scripture, and whereunto the whole revelation of God unto men may be reduced. This was that on the prospect whereof the Son or Wisdom of God rejoiced before him, and had his delights with the children of men before the foundation of the world, Prov. 8:30, 31. Man having utterly lost himself by sin, coming short thereby of the glory of God, and being made obnoxious unto everlasting destruction, the prevision whereof was in order of nature antecedent unto this covenant, as hath been declared, the Father and Son do enter into a holy mutual agreement concerning the recovery and salvation of the elect in a way of grace. This we place as the matter of this covenant, the thing contracted and agreed about. The distinction of the parts of it into persons and things, the order and respect in it of one thing unto another, are not of our present consideration; the explanation of them belongs unto the covenant of grace which God is pleased to enter into with believers by Jesus Christ. But this was that in general that was to be disposed of unto the mutual complacency and satisfaction of Father and Son.
16. The end of these things, both of the covenant and the disposition of all things made thereby, was the especial glory both of the one and the other. God doth all things for himself. He can have no ultimate end in any thing but himself alone, unless there should be any thing better than himself or above himself. But yet in himself he is not capable of any accession of glory by any thing that he intendeth or doth. He is absolutely, infinitely, eternally perfect, in himself and all his glorious properties, so that nothing can be added unto him. His end therefore must be, not the obtaining of glory unto himself, but the manifestation of the glory that is in himself. When the holy properties of his nature are exercised in external works, and are thereby expressed, declared, and made known, then is God glorified. The end therefore in general of this covenant, which regulated the disposal of the whole matter of it, was the exercise, exaltation, and manifestation, of the glorious properties of the divine nature; other supreme end and ultimate it could have none, as hath been declared. Now, such is the mutual respect of all the holy properties of God in their exercise, and such their oneness in the same divine being, that if any one of them be exerted, manifested, and thereby glorified, the residue of them must be therein and thereby glorified also, because that nature is glorified in which they are, and whereunto they do belong. But yet, in several particular works of God, his design is firstly, immediately, and directly, to exercise in a peculiarly eminent manner, and therein to advance and glorify, one or more of his glorious properties, and the rest consequentially in and by them. So in some of his works he doth peculiarly glorify justice, in some mercy, in some his power. We may therefore, as to the end of this holy, eternal compact, consider what are those properties of the divine nature which were peculiarly engaged in it, and are peculiarly exerted in its execution, and were therefore designed to be exalted in a peculiar manner. Now these are three:—(1.) Wisdom, attended with sovereignty. (2.) Justice, springing from holiness. (3.) Grace, mercy, goodness, love, which are various denominations of the same divine excellency.
That this covenant sprang from these properties of the divine nature, that the execution of it is the work and effect of them all, and that it is designed to manifest and glorify them, or God in and by them, unto eternity, the Scripture doth fully declare.
(1.) The infinite, sovereign wisdom of God, even the Father, exerted itself, —[1.] In passing by the angels in their fallen condition, and fixing on the recovery of man, Heb. 2:16; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6. [2.] In the projection or provision of the way in general to bring about the salvation of man, by the interposition of his Son, with what he did and suffered in the pursuit hereof, Acts 2:23, 4:28. [3.] In the disposal of all things in that way in such a holy and glorious order, as that marks and footsteps of infinite divine wisdom should be imprinted on every part and passage of it, 1 Cor. 1:23–31; Rom. 11:33–36; Eph. 3:10, 11.
(2.) His justice, accompanied with or springing from holiness, gave as it were the especial determination unto the way to be insisted on for the accomplishment of the end aimed at, and it was effectually exerted in the execution of it; for upon a supposition that God would pardon and save sinners, it was his eternal justice which required that it should be brought about by the sufferings of the Son, and it was itself expressed and exercised in those sufferings, as we shall afterwards more fully declare, Rom. 3:25, 26, 8:3; Gal. 3:13; 2 Cor. 5:21.
(3.) Grace, love, goodness, or mercy, chiefly induced unto the whole. And these the Scriptures most commonly cast the work upon, or resolve it into. See John 3:16, 17; Rom. 5:8, 11:6; 1 Cor. 1:29–31; Eph. 1:5–7, 3:7, 8.
In these things, in the exercise, manifestation, and exaltation, of these glorious excellencies of the divine nature, with their effects in and upon the obedience of angels and men, doth consist that peculiar glory which God, even the Father, aims at in this covenant, and which supplies the place of that security or advantage which amongst men is intended in such compacts.
17. There must also, moreover, be an especial and peculiar honour of the Son, the other party covenanting, intended therein; and was so accordingly, and is in like manner accomplished. And this was twofold:— First, what he had conjunctly with the Father, as he is of the same nature with him, "over all, God blessed for ever;" for on this account the divine excellencies before mentioned belong unto him, or are his, and in their exaltation is he exalted. But as his undertaking herein was peculiar, so he was to have a peculiar honour and glory thereby, not as God, but as the Mediator of the covenant of grace, which sprang from hence. For the accomplishment of the ends of this covenant, as we shall see, he parted for a season with the glory of his interest in those divine perfections, emptying himself, or making himself of no reputation, Phil. 2:5–9. And he was to have an illustrious recovery of the glory of his interest in them, when he was "declared to be the Son of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead," Rom. 1:4, when he was again glorified with the Father, with that glory which he had with him before the world was, John 17:5,—namely, that peculiar glory which he had and assumed upon his undertaking to be a Saviour and Redeemer unto mankind, then when his delights were with the sons of men, and he rejoiced before the Father, and was his delight on that account. And this, secondly, was attended with that peculiar glorious exaltation which in his human nature he received upon the accomplishment of the terms and conditions of this covenant. What this glory was, and wherein it doth consist, I have manifested at large in the Exposition on Heb. 1:3. See Isa. 53:12; Ps. 110:1, 6, 2:8, 9; Zech. 9:10; Ps. 72:8; Rom. 14:11; Isa. 45:23; Matt. 28:18; Phil. 2:10; Heb. 12:2, etc.
18. The manner how these things were to be accomplished,—that is, the condition and limitation of this covenant, as it had respect unto a prescription of personal obedience and promises of reward,—is lastly to be considered; for herein lies the occasion and spring of the priesthood of Christ, which we are inquiring after. And this sort of covenants hath most affinity unto those relations which are constituted by the law of nature; for every natural relation, such as that of father and children, of man and wife, contains in it a covenant with respect unto personal services and rewards. Now, things were so disposed in this covenant, that on the account of bringing sinners unto obedience and glory, to the honour of God the Father, and of the peculiar and especial honour or glory that was proposed unto himself, he, the Son, should do and undergo in his own person all and every thing which, in the wisdom, righteousness, holiness, and grace of God, was requisite or necessary unto that end, provided that the presence and assistance of the Father were with him, and that he accepted of him and his works.
I shall a little invert the order of these things, that I may not have occasion to return again unto them after we are engaged in our more peculiar design. We may therefore, in the first place, consider the promises that in this compact or covenant were made unto the Son upon his undertaking this work, although they more naturally depend on the prescription of duty and work made unto him. But we may consider them as encouragements unto the susception of the work. And these promises were of two sorts:—(1.) Such as concerned his person; (2.) Such as concerned the prosperity of the work which he undertook. Those also which concerned his person immediately were of two sorts:—[1.] Such as concerned his assistance in his work; [2.] Such as concerned his acceptance and glory after his work.
(1.) The person of the Son of God, not absolutely considered, but with respect unto his future incarnation, is a proper object of divine promises; and so was he now considered, even as an undertaker for the execution and establishment of this covenant, or as he became the minister of God to confirm the truth of the promises made afterwards to the fathers, Rom. 15:8. And herein he had promises,—
[1.] As to his assistance. The work he undertook to accomplish, as it was great and glorious, so also it was difficult and arduous. It is known from the gospel what he did and what he suffered,—what straits, perplexities, and agonies of soul, he was reduced unto in his work. All this he foresaw in his first engagement, and thereon by his Spirit foretold what should befall him, Ps. 22; Isa. 53; 1 Pet. 1:11. Whatever opposition hell and the world,—which were to prevail unto the bruising of his heel,—could make against the Son of God acting in the frail nature of man, he was to encounter withal; whatever the law and the curse of it could bring on offenders, he was to undergo it. Hence in that nature he stood in need of the presence of God with him and of his divine assistance. This, therefore, was promised unto him; in respect whereunto he placed his trust and confidence in God, even the Father, and called upon him in all his distresses. See Isa. 42:4, 6; Ps. 16:10, 11, 22, 89:28; Isa. 50:5–9. This God promised him, and gave him that assurance of, which at all times he might safely trust unto,—namely, that he would not leave him under his troubles, but stand by and assist him to the utmost of what had a consistency with the design itself whose execution he had undertaken.
[2.] Promises were given unto him concerning his exaltation, his kingdom, and power, with all that glory which was to ensue upon the accomplishment of his work. See Isa. 53:12; Ps. 110:1, 6, 2:8, 9; Zech. 9:10; Ps. 72:8; Dan. 7:14; Rom. 14:11; Isa. 45:23; Phil. 2:10. And these promises the Lord Christ had a constant eye unto in his whole work; and upon the accomplishment of it, made his request, and expected that they should be made good and fulfilled,—as well he might, being made unto him and confirmed with the "oath of God," Luke 24:26; John 17:5; Heb. 12:2. And these are an essential part of the covenant that he was engaged by.
(2.) The second sort of promises made unto him are such as concern his work, and the acceptance of it with God. By them was he assured that the children whom he undertook for should be delivered and saved, should be made partakers of grace and glory. See Heb. 2:9–11, etc., and our Exposition thereon. And this is that which gives the nature of merit unto the obedience and suffering of Christ. Merit is such an adjunct of obedience as whereon a reward is reckoned of debt. Now, there was in the nature of the things themselves a proportion between the obedience of Christ the mediator and the salvation of believers. But this is not the next foundation of merit, though it be an indispensable condition thereof; for there must not only be a proportion, but a relation also, between the things whereof the one is the merit of the other. And the relation in this case is not natural or necessary, arising from the nature of the things themselves. This, therefore, arose from the compact or covenant that was between the Father and Son to this purpose, and the promises wherewith it was confirmed. Suppose, then, a proportion in distributive justice between the obedience of Christ and the salvation of believers (which wherein it doth consist shall be declared afterwards); then add the respect and relation that they have one to another by virtue of this covenant, and in particular that our salvation is engaged by promise unto Christ; and it gives us the true nature of his merit. Such promises were given him, and do belong unto this covenant, the accomplishment whereof he pleads on the discharge of his work, Isa. 53:10, 11; Ps. 22:30, 31; John 17:1, 4–6, 9, 12–17; Heb. 7:26; Isa. 49:5–9; Ps. 2:7; Acts 13:33.
19. The conditions required of, or prescriptions made unto, the undertaker in this covenant, for the end mentioned, and under the promises directed unto, do complete it. And these may be reduced unto three heads:—
(1.) That he should assume or take on him the nature of those whom, according unto the terms of this covenant, he was to bring unto God. This was prescribed unto him, Heb. 2:9, 10:5; which, by an act of infinite grace and condescension, he complied withal, Phil. 2:6–8, Heb. 2:14. And therein, although he was with God, and was God, and made all things in the glory of the only-begotten Son of God, yet he was "made flesh," John 1:14. And this condescension, which was the foundation of all his obedience, gave the nature of merit and purchase unto what he did. This he did upon the prescription of the Father; who is therefore said to "send forth his Son, made of a woman," Gal. 4:4; and to "send forth his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh," Rom. 8:3: in answer unto which act of the will of the Father he saith, "Lo, I come to do thy will," Heb. 10:7. And this assumption of our nature was indispensably necessary unto the work which he had to do. He could no otherwise have exalted the glory of God in the salvation of sinners, nor been himself in our nature exalted unto his mediatory kingdom, which are the principal ends of this covenant.
(2.) That in this nature so assumed he should be the servant of the Father, and yield universal obedience unto him, both according to the general law of God obliging all mankind, and according unto the especial law of the church under which he was born and made, and according unto the singular law of that compact or agreement which we have described, Isa. 42:1, 49:5; Phil. 2:7. He came to do, to answer and fulfil, the whole will of God, all that on any account was required of him. This he calls the "commandment" of his Father, the commands which he received of him, which extend themselves to all the prescriptions of this covenant.
(3.) That whereas God was highly incensed with and provoked against all and every one of those whom he was to save and bring unto glory, they having all by sin come short thereof, and rendered themselves obnoxious to the law and its curse, he should, as the servant of the Father unto the ends of this covenant, make an atonement for sin in and by our nature assumed, and answer the justice of God by suffering and undergoing what was due unto them; without which it was not possible they should be delivered or saved, unto the glory of God, Isa. 53:11, 12.
And as all the other terms of the covenant, so this in particular he undertook to make good, namely, that he would interpose himself between the law and sinners, by undergoing the penalty thereof, and between divine justice itself and sinners, to make atonement for them. And so are we come to the well-head or the fountain of salvation. Here lieth the immediate sacred spring and fountain of the priesthood of Christ, and of the sacrifice of himself, which in the discharge of that office he offered unto God.
20. Man having sinned, the justice of God, as the supreme Lord, Ruler, and Governor over all, was violated thereby, and his law broken and disannulled. Every sin personally added to the first sin, which was the sin of our nature in Adam, doth so far partake of the nature thereof as to have the same consequents with respect unto the justice and law of God. In one or both these ways all men had sinned and come short of the glory of God, or were apostatized from the end of their creation, without power, hope, or possibility in themselves for the retrieval thereof. Neither was there any way for our recovery, unless God were propitiated, his justice atoned, and his law repaired or fulfilled. This now was that which in this eternal covenant the Son of God, as he was to be incarnate, did undertake to perform. And this could no otherwise be done but by the obedience and suffering of the nature that had offended; whereby greater glory should redound unto God, in the exaltation of the glorious properties of his nature, through their eminent and peculiar exercise, than dishonour could be reflected on him or his rule by sin committed in that nature. This was done by the death and blood-shedding of the Son of God under the sentence and curse of the law. Hereunto, in this covenant, he voluntarily and of choice gave himself up unto the will of God, to undergo the penalty due to sinners, according to the terms and for the ends of the law: for inasmuch as the sufferings of Christ were absolutely from his own will, the obedience of his will therein giving them virtue and efficacy; and seeing he did in them and by them interpose himself between God and sinners, to make atonement and reconciliation for them; and seeing that to this end he offered up himself unto the will of God, to do and suffer whatever he required in justice and grace for the accomplishment of the ends of this compact and agreement; which having effected, he would persist to make effectual unto those for whom he so undertook all the benefits of his undertaking, by a continual glorious interposition with God on their behalf; he so became the high priest of his people, and offered himself a sacrifice for them.
For when God came to reveal this counsel of his will, this branch and part of the eternal compact between him and his Son, and to represent unto the church what had been transacted within the veil, for their faith and edification, as also to give them some previous insight into the manner of the accomplishment of these his holy counsels, he did it by the institution of a priesthood and sacrifices, or a sacred office and sacred kind of worship, suited and adapted to be a resemblance of this heavenly transaction between the Father and the Son; for the priesthood and sacrifices of the law were not the original exemplar of these things, but a transcript and copy of what was done in heaven itself, in counsel, design, and covenant, as they were a type of what should be afterwards accomplished in the earth. Now, although the names of priests and sacrifices are first applied unto the office mentioned under the law and their work, from whence they are traduced under the new testament and transferred unto Jesus Christ, that we may learn thereby what God of old instructed his church in, yet the things themselves intended and signified by these names belong properly and firstly unto Jesus Christ, upon the account of this his undertaking; and the very names of priests and sacrifices were but improperly ascribed unto them who were so called, to be obscure representations of what was past, and types of what was to come.
21. The sum is, The Son of God, in infinite love, grace, and condescension, undertaking freely, in and of his own will, to interpose himself between the wrath of God and sinners, that they might be delivered from sin with all its consequents, and saved, unto the glory of God, according to the terms of the covenant explained, his offering and giving up of himself unto the will of God in suffering and dying, in answer unto his holiness, righteousness, and law, was, in the revelation of this counsel of God unto the church, represented by his institution of a sacred office of men, to offer up, by slaying and other rites of his own appointment, the best of other creatures, called by him a priesthood and sacrifices; these things in the first place belonging properly unto the accomplishment of the forementioned holy undertaking in and by the person of that Son of God. And if it be inquired wherefore things were thus ordered in the wisdom and counsel of God, we answer, that, with respect unto the holiness, righteousness, and veracity of God, it was absolutely and indispensably necessary that they should be so disposed; for on the supposition of the sin of man, and the grace of God to save them who had sinned, the interposition of the Son of God described on their behalf was indispensably necessary, as shall be proved in the ensuing Exercitation.
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