bleffed man appears to be of a different stamp, he is bleed, truly fo, for God pronounces him fuch, and none can reverse it; righteou/nefs is imputed to him, not his own, but another's, for it is imputed without works; and what righteousness would avail a man for acceptance, that was not perfect? And where fhall we find a righteousness perfect, and fully answering the holy law of God, except the righteoufnefs of Chrift? We have been led to take notice of the parallel the apostle to the Romans runs between the firft and fecond Adam, chap. 2d, and here it may not be amifs to refume the thought, and confider that paffage yet more carefully. The apoftle here informs us, that fin first introduced death into the world, and that in confequence of fin being imputed to all, death paffed upon all; and that on the contrary as death came by fin, fo life comes by righteoufnefs, as the one was introduced by the firft Adam, fo the other iş brought in by the fecond Adam; as fin was im puted from the former, fo righteousness is imputed from the latter; and as by one man's disobedience many, even all the pofterity of Adam, were conftituted finners, fo by the obedience of one, even the man Chriit Jefus, many, viz. all his believing feed, shall be constituted righteous, ver. 19-ver, 15, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace. "The charisma, and dorema, here spoken of, is the obedience of Chrift imputed to us by "the heavenly father. Nevertheless these two "words grace and gift, may be thus diftinguish"ed; the one respects free pardon and absolution, "the other, a benefit beftowed on them who are "thus abfolved; even the righteousness of Chrift tt imputed, by which their fouls are adorned."* As if fome prince or potentate, from an act of clemency and good nefs, fhould frankly forgive one of his poor fubjects, who stood indebted to him a large fum of money; and fhould add to this favour the free donation of an immenfe treafure; then in the language of the apostle here is grace in pardoning, and the gift by grace, in confering the royal favour. Which is by one man Jefus Chrift, the one and only Saviour of finners, bath abounded unto many, even to as many as believe in him, ver. 16, and not as it was by one that finned, fo is the gift; i. e. not as the fin, the one fin, fo is the dorema, the charifma, viz. the righteousness of Chrift, which imputed to the believer, which extends its falutary influence to all his fins both original and actual, for the judgment was by one, that one fin of Adam, to condemnation, arifing from imputed guilt; but the free gift, is of many offences;t free grace pardons all the offences of the believer, unto justification, § to full pardon, and favourable F 2 accep * Cur autem Christi obedientiam (charisma,) bis vocarit, femel vero dikaiomai nempe verficulo 18th caufa eft manifefta, quia videlicet Christi juftitiam non confiderat absolute, fed kata fkefin, eamque duplicam. Nam refpectu Dei nobis illam imputantis, dicitur charisma, a gratificando: noftri vero ratione, qui per eam imputatam jufti fimus, merito dicitur dikaioma, quod nos juftos efficiat, feu quod ea jufti fiamus, ut explicat ipfe apoftolus, ver. 19th, Bez. in loc. Gratia non tantummodo illud peccatum interfecit, fed etiam poft illud introeunti peccata. Auguft. 31 Dikaioma, fignifles here, not only pardon but acceptance; not only freedom from guilt, but favour conferred, even the obedience of Chrift by which we are made and ace cepted, as righteous. Fenit, much more Batt, the * vie. Jud, dealb regned by one, by that one of acceptance, ver. 17, for if by one man's offence, they which receive abundance of abounding grace of God in Christ, fuinels we all receive the favour of every common who is full of grace and truth, and from whofe betting, and of the gift of righteousness, the perfect and confummate obedience of Chrift imputed to them, all reign in life by one, Jejus Chrift, shall, adorned in that fpotlefs robe, be admitted into the prefence of the king of kings, and dwell with him for ever, ver. 18. Therefore as by the offence of one, even Adam the representative of all mankind, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, the guilt of that one man's fin being imputed to all, laid them obnoxioufnefs to condemnation even fo by the righteousness of one, namely Jefus Chrift, the head and reprefentative of believers in the covenant of redemption; the free gift is come upon all men, unto juftification of life, even upon all whom he reprefented, unto their full abfolution, and final acceptance, §ver. 19. for as by one ; * Gratiæ nomen, ad omnia Dei beneficia pertineat, fed doreas tes dikaiofunes non de omnibus Dei beneficiis quæ, per Chriftum percipimus, fed proprie de obedientiæ Chrifti imputatione Bez.. Should it be faid that pantas anthropous, all men, in the latter claufe of the verfe, ftands oppofed to, and ex-. tends as far as pantas anthropous, all men, in the former, it cannot be granted; feeing this would neceffarily infer univerfal falvation. Furthermore it is obfervable, that the apostle's scope in this whole paffage, is not fimply to prove that bondage, capitivity, &c. are derived to us from Adam, and enlargement, redemption, &c. by Chrift, but that guilt, and condemnation arifing from that guilt, is imputed to us from one man's disobedience, viz that of Adam, many were made finners, even all who defcend from Adam by natural generation, are conftituted finners in him; fo by the obedience of one, even Christ, shall many be made righteous, viz. all that fhall believe on him to the end of time fhall be conftituted righteous, through his righteoufnefs, imputed to them. This whole paffage fo clearly and fully eftablishes the doctrine of imputed righteoufnefs, that nothing but a grofs perverfion of the apostle's meaning and defign can fubvert it. For it is evident, this, and only this, was the thing intended from the twelfth verfe of the chapter, where the collation betwixt Adam and Chrift is begun, and although the doctrine of original fin, or the imputation of Adam's offence to his pofterity, is fully proved therefrom, yet Paul's defign was to clear up the doctrine of juftification treated of in the foregoing chapter, and answer the cavils and objections that the adverfaries of the gospel might raise against it If any should say that the method was ftrange and unufual, that one man fhould be juftified by the righteousness of another; not at all would the apoftle fay, feeing by the fame method of proceeding, God has concluded all the world guilty by the fin of another; therefore as guilt, condemnation and death, came by Adam fo righteousness, abfolution and life come by Christ. /o an &qual di guater Syland F 3 10th, from Adam, as our common head and reprefentative in the first covenant; and righteoufnefs, and abfolution thereby, is imputed to us from Chrift, the head and reprefentative of the elect in the fecond covenant. 10th, That Chrift is to be confidered in the re demption covenant as the head and representative of his believing feed, the above paffage fufficiently evinces; nor is this the only place in fcripture that reprefents him in this light; Pf. lxxxix. 3d, I have made a covenant with my chosen, &c. where notwithstanding, the king of Ifrael is intended in a proximate fenfe, yet is evident from many paffages in the after parts of the Pfalm, the king of faints is intended in the ultimate. Again, "their governor fhall proceed from the midft of "them, (even Chrift,) and I will caufe him to "draw near, and he shall approach unto me; "for who is this that engaged his heart to ap"proach unto me, faith the Lord," Jer. xxx. 2Į. And again, "behold the man whose name "is the branch, even he shall build the temple "of the Lord, and he fhall bear the glory, and "he fhall fit and rule upon his throne, and he "fhall be a prieft upon his throne, and the coun"fel of peace," (viz. the covenant of redemption,) fhall be between them both, even Jehovah the father and Jeboyab the fon. Zech. vi. 12, 13. In this covenant, the father engages and covenants to give and insure to the fon, a certain number of fallen finners of mankind, who in confideration of, and for the fake of what he fhould do and fuffer, fhould be delivered, from the demerit of their fins, reftored to the favour of God, and be made partakers of everlasting felicity. If liii. 11. Math. i. 21. John vi. 37, xvii, 2, 9, &c. The fon covenants and engages in behalf of thefe, to lay afide his glory, leave the bofom of his father, and because the children were partakers of flesh and blood, to affume their nature, and form, fub ject |