The first blessed effect and sweet fruit of our justification by faith, is peace and reconciliation with God. Pardon and peace go together, and accompany one another; a sinner being discharged from guilt, and thereby from his obnoxiousness to God's wrath, is instantly brought into a state of friendship and reconciliation with God; for there is no middle state betwixt his favour and his wrath.
Learn hence, 1. That peace, is proclaimed in heaven betwixt God and every justified person whatsoever, the enmity betwixt God and such a soul being taken away: Peace I say, is proclaimed in the sinner's conscience: A person may be in a state of peace, and yet want the sense of peace.
Again, There is a twofold peace with God; one which is opposite to God's paternal anger as a father. Now, the apostle here speaks of the former. Being justified by faith, we have peace with God; that is, God has no more hostile enmity against us, and will not satisfy his justice upon us, by punishing of us; but if we offend him, we shall certainly fall under his frowns and chastisements, and feel the effects of his heavy displeasure as an angry father!
With this agrees that of the learned and pious Bishop Davenant: Deus absolvit justificatum ab omni pana satisfactoria, sed non ab omni pana medicinali & castigatoria.
Learn, 2. That our reconciliation with God is settled upon a sure foundation by Jesus Christ; We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus; that is, through him as a Mediator betwixt God and us; he made peace by the blood of his cross, Colossians 1:20. that is, by his blood shed upon the cross; he meritorious satisfaction brought us into a state of peace and reconciliation, and his prevailing intercession keep us in it: Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
A second benefit which flows from justification by faith, is our admission to grace and favour with God: This is a privilege beyond the former; a traitor may be pardoned by his prince, and yet not admitted into the presence of his prince; as Absolem's crime was forgiven, but he must not see his father's face: But by Christ's mediation, every justified person meets with divine acceptance; yea, he is not only brought into a state of grace and favour, but he stands and abides in it. No sufferings from God, no sufferings from man for God's sake, no temptations, no tribulations nor persecutions, can cause God to cast him out of his grace and favour; having access by faith into it, he shall stand and abide in it. True, he may fall under his Father's rod, but he shall never fall from his Father's love: Through Christ we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand.
A third benefit follows. We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Here observe, 1. The happy union and connection between grace and glory; grace is glory begun, and glory is grace consummated; grace is glory in the bud, glory is grace in the fruits; grace is the lowest degree of glory, and glory the highest degree of grace.
Happy soul, that is partaker of the first fruits of grace! thou shalt ere long reap the crop of glory!
Observe, 2. A justified person has the hope of future, glory, and always may, and sometimes can, rejoice in the hope; We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God: He hopes for the glory of God, and well he may, for 'tis purchased for him; 'tis promised to him; he has it already in the first fruits and earnest of that: It is prepared for him, and he is preparing for that; and he rejoices in the hope of his glory, believing it to be great and glorious, sure and certain, never decaying, everlasting.
Here the apostle mentioneth a fourth benefit flowing from justification by faith; and that is, glorying in their present sufferings. He told us before, that justified persons, being at peace with God, rejoiced in hopes of future glory; but, says he, that is not all, they glory in their present tribulations also.
Here note, 1. What sort of sufferings they are which the saints glory in; they are tribulations, that is, such trials and persecutions as did befal them for the profession of the gospel: In these a child of God may rejoice, yea, boast and glory, as a soldier doth of his marks, wounds and scars received in the wars, but not in those sufferings, afflictions and trials which we bring upon ourselves, as punishments for our sins; these we have no more reason to glory in, than a corrected child has to glory in his whipping; What glory is it when we are buffeted for our faults?
Note, 2. To what a height and heroic pitch the spirit of a justified believer may be raised under sufferings for Christ; He may glory in tribulation : It is an high strain of spiritualness in bearing affliction, when a Christian can say, I love to bear : Though I love not that which I suffer, and that which I bear, yet I love to bear what I suffer. But it is a higher pitch than this, to say with the apostle, I rejoice in my sufferings, Colossians 1:24 . For joy is a degree beyond love; yet is it a degree higher still, to take pleasure in reproaches and distresses for Christ's sake,2 Corinthians 12:10 for pleasure is a degree beyond joy; but to glory in tribulations , is beyond them all; 'tis more than to love, more than to rejoice, more than to take pleasure in them.
Oh the power of faith in Christ, and love unto him, to support and uphold the soul! yea, cause it to glory under the sharpest sufferings and tribulations for him!
Note, 3. That it is not in the tribulations themselves that believers glory, but in the sweet issue, happy fruits, and gracious effects of them; finding that by the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit, tribulation worketh patience ; that is, exerciseth and increaseth patience, and patience begetteth and giveth experience of God's gracious presence with us, of his assistance of us, and of his faithfulness towards us, in and under all our afflictions: And experience of these things worketh in us hope of reward.
Here observe, How one grace generates and begets another: graces have a generation one from another, though they have all but one generation from the Spirit of Christ.
Observe also, That it is not tribulation in its own nature, but when sanctified by the blessed Spirit, that by a happy gradation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope: For when affliction is not sanctified, but meets with a stubborn spirit, Lord, what dreadful effects doth it produce! Then tribulation excites impatience, impatience causes perplexity, perplexity despair, and despair confusion.
Note, 4. The effect and property of the believer's hope. It maketh not ashamed ; his hope will not make him ashamed, neither will he be ever ashamed of his hope: Frustrated hopes fill men with confusion and shame: The justified person shall not find his hopes of glory frustrated, but exceeded; and the reason is added, why the Christian hope will not deceive or shame him, namely, Because the love of God is shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost ; that is, the Holy Spirit doth, in time of tribulation, testify his love to the hearts of the people, which causes them to glory in tribulation.
Learn hence, That in time of affliction, especially of persecution for the sake of Christ, good men have a more sensible feeling of God's love shed abroad in their hearts by the blessed Spirit, both to prepare them for trials, and to support them under them. St. Peter calls this a joy unspeakable; it has the very scent and taste of heaven in it, and there is but a gradual difference betwixt it and the joys of heaven: No sooner doth the Holy Spirit, shed forth the love of God into the believer's heart, by clearing up his interest in the promise, and his title to eternal glory, but the soul is prepared to rejoice in affliction, yea, to glory in tribulation; and it will be as impossible to hinder it, as it is to hinder a man from satisfaction when he is most delighted and pleased: We glory in tribulation, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost .
In this verse, the apostle sets forth the efficacy of Christ's love towards us before justification: He had a love towards us when we were sinners, which prevailed with him to die for sinners; When we were yet without strength, Christ died for the ungodly.
Note here, 1. Man's condition by nature described, a state of enmity, ungodly; and a state of impotency, without strength. We were without strength, and so wanted help; ungodly and so refused help. Man is but an impotent and obstinate creature; without power to resist justice, and without affection to desire mercy: So weak, that he trembles at the appearance of a worm, and yet so wicked, that he lifts up his head against heaven. The state of unregeneracy is both a state of enmity and a state of impotency.
Note, 2. The way and means found out for our recovery, the death of Christ; When we were yet without strength, Christ died for us, Though he found the whole race of mankind buried in the ruins of their lapsed state, yet he did not leave them so, but died for them.
Note, 3. The seasonableness of the means interposed for our recovery: It was in due time that Christ died; that is, in the fulness of time appointed by God the Father, and determined in his decree and purpose.
Here we may remark, That Christ came not in the beginning of time, in the infancy and morning of the world (though it was then promised that he should come) nor yet did he stay till the best period and end of time, but came as it were in the middle of time, which is called the fulness of time, and here due time Galatians 4:4. Christ came not for our recover as soon as ever we were fallen, that mankind might be the more sensible of the badness of their condition: Had we been instantly apprehended the danger of our disease, nor esteemed the kindness of our Physician: Neither did he stay till the last period and end of time before he came, that the faith and expectation of his church might not be put upon too long and severe an exercise: The patriarchs believed in Christ that was to come; the apostles in Christ then present; and Christians now believe in him that long since did come, and is gone again. So that the apostle might well say here, That in due time Christ died.
Here the apostle amplifies, extols, and magnifies the love of Christ in dying for us, when we were enemies to him; by comparing his love to us, with our love to one another: He intimates to us, that amongst men it is very rare and seldom known that one man will lay down his life to save another's; but if so, it must be for a very extraordinary friend, for a person of uncommon goodness, and of eminent worth; For, says he, scarcely for a righteous man will one die.
As if he had said, Such a thing may be, but it is scarcely ever known, that a person will lay down his life for another though he be a very righteous, innocent, and truly honest man. Perhaps for a good man, that is, for a very king and bountiful benefactor; for some person of rare charity, and extraordinary goodness; for a man that is a public blessing and common good to the whole community; some person, from a sense of strong obligations, would even dare to die.
The scope of the apostle is this: To set forth the transcendency of Christ's love in dying for the ungodly, to shew that it is beyond all human example, and that there can be no resemblance, much less any parallel of it; He loved us, and gave himself for us. Had he only as an advocate spoken and pleaded for us, his condescension had been admirable, and his love unspeakable. But to die, yea, to die for us, to be not only our Mediator, but Redeemer; not only our Redeemer, but our Ransom; Here is love beyond comparison: Blessed Jesus! was ever love like thine?
Observe here, How the scripture distinctly represents the love of God in giving Christ to die for us, as well as Christ's love in dying for us: God commended his love; declared expressed and made manifest his love to us: Christ's death is often represented in scripture, as an instance of the great love of the Father towards us; because his wisdom did contrive this way of our redemption; and he has graciously accepted of his Son's sufferings in our stead. Verily, the giving heaven itself, with all its joys and glory, is not so full and perfect a demonstration of the love of God, as the giving of his Son to die for us; especially if we consider one endearing circumstance of this love of God which he commended towards us; namely, That it warmed the heart of God from all eternity, and was never interrupted in that vast duration.
Our salvation by Christ is the product of God's eternal counsel, Acts 2:23 that is, the fruit of his everlasting love; before the world began, we were in the eyes, yea, in and upon the heart of God.
In a word, well might the apostle say, That God commended his love towards us, forasmuch as, in common esteem, he expressed greater love to us, than to Christ himself: For God, in giving him to die for us, declared to us, that our salvation was more-dear to him, than the life of his own Son. God repented that he made man, but never that he gave his Son to redeem man.
Learn hence, That the death of Christ for sinners, is an evident demonstaration of the love of God the Father, and of the Lord Jesus Christ: God commendeth his love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
As if the apostle had said, "He that loved us when we were enemies, will not damn us now we are his children. He that reconciled us to himself by his Son's death, that is, for the sake of his Son's sufferings, and satisfaction, will certainly save us from wrath to come by his life, or for the sake of his prevailing intercession;" If when enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son.
Here note, That this word ( if) is not a word of doubting, but of argumentation. The apostle supposes it a known truth, or a principle yielded by all Christians, That the death of Christ was to reconcile sinners unto God.
Learn hence, That Christ has reconciled God and us by the satisfaction which his death has made to the justice of God for our sins; and reparation being made, the enmity ceases on God's part if the terms of reconciliation be accepted on our part.
Our reconciliation with God, when enemies, was effected,
1. By the sacrifice of the death of Christ, which was the price that purchased it.
2. By the application of that benefit to us through faith:
And, 3. By Christ's potent and eternal intercession, whereby our state of reconciliation is confirmed and all future breaches prevented: For if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, even Christ the righteous, 1 John 2:1-2.
We dare not say, that God could not have reconciled us any other way but this; but we may safely say, that no way like this was so expressive of his love to us; it was the most obliging and endearing way imaginable, to reconcile us to himself by the death of his Son.
As if the apostle had said, "And moreover, we are not only reconciled to, but we glory and rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have received the atonement or reconciliation."
Here note, The Christian's great duty to rejoice, the cause of that is joy, his reconciliation with God, and the means by which he obtains reconciliation with God; through our Lord Jesus Christ; that is, through the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, and through faith in his death.
Hence learn, That our rejoicing, as to reconciliation with God, depends upon our believing; it is none, if our faith be none; little, if our faith be little; great, if our faith be great. No man can rejoice in an unknown good; let us therefore give all diligence to clear up to ourselves our interest in this atonement: Christ thought it worth his blood to purchase it; surely then it is worth our pains to clear it, in order to our rejoicing in it. He that seeks not reconciliation with God, is an enemy to his soul; and he that rejoices not in that reconciliation, is an enemy to his own comfort.
The doctrine of original sin is not more difficult to be understood, than it is necessary to be known: the apostle here declares the manner how sin and death entered the world, namely, by the fall of Adam the first man: By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin.
Note, 1. An unhappy parent; namely, Adam: By him sin entered into the world.
2. An unhappy posterity; namely, the whole world, proceeding from and coming out of the loins of Adam, in whom all have sinned.
3. An unhappy portion; sin and death: Sin entered by Adam, and death entered by sin. This was the legacy which Adam left to all his posterity.
Now the sad and mournful truth which the scripture contains, is this: "That our first parent, by his transgression, hath entailed a miserable inheritance, an unhappy portion of sin and death upon all posterity." Adam's sin becomes ours.
1. By meritorious imputation: God treated with him not as a private person, but as caput gentis, as the root and parent of all mankind.
Hence a comparison is often made between the first and second Adam; the grace of the one, with the sin of the other: the life conveyed by the one, and the death transmitted by the other.
By Adam we were cast, by Christ we were cleared; cursed in Adam, crowned in Christ. Now this comparison would be wholly insignificant, if Adam had not been looked upon as the representative of us all.
2. The sin of Adam is derived to us by way of inhesion: We have received from him a depravity of nature, and evil disposition, a propension to all mischief, and aversion to all good.
The sin of Adam transmitted to us, doth not only cause guilt upon our persons, but filth upon our natures; not only lay a charge to us, but throws a stain upon us.
3. We make Adam's sin our own by imitation, by treading in the steps of his disobedience. Every sin we commit in defiance of the threatenings of God, is a justifying of Adam's rebellion against God; and accordingly, we die by our own folly, as well as by his fall; our destruction is of ourselves, by our actual rebellions; and we shall at the great day charge our sin and misery upon ourselves, not on God, but on Satan, not on instruments, not on our first parents.
The apostle having asserted the doctrine of original sin in the former verse, he prosecutes and pursues it in this and the following verses: asserting, That it is evident all have sinned, because sin was always in the world; not only after the giving of the law by Moses, but also before, even from the beginning of the world to that time.
As if the apostle had said, There was certainly a law given before there was a law written: a law given to Adam, before a law written by Moses; now this law was either the law of nature written in Adam's heart, or the postive law of God given to Adam, against which law men were capable of offending before the law of Moses was written; otherwise sin would not have been imputed to them, for sin is not imputed where there is no law."
Learn hence, That God having created man a rational creature, capable of moral government, is by immediate resultancy his King and governor, and has ruled him from the beginning by a law, yet not barely by a law, but by a covenant, with promises and threatenings annexed, rewarding him for his obedience, and punishing him for his rebellion.
The apostle had asserted, That sin was in the world before the written law of Moses; here he proves it thus: "Death, the wages of sin, did reign in the world, and had power over all mankind from Adam to Moses; therefore sin was in the world from Adam to Moses." By them that have not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, infants are generally understood; the guilt of Adam's sin is imputed to them, else death could have no power over them.
The argument runs thus: Death is a punishment of sin, but infants die who never sinned actually, therefore they die for Adam's sin: Sin brought mortality into their nature, and the wages of sin is death: They brought a sinful nature into the world with them, which God gave the Jews of old an intimation of, by appointing the sacrament of circumcision signifying that infants brought something into the world with them, which was early to be cut off; he also signifies the same to us Christians, by appointing the ordinance of baptism for children, which he calls the laver of regeneration: Now, a laver supposes uncleanness; what is pure, needs no laver.
Learn hence, That infants, as soon as they live, have in them the seeds of death: Sin is the seed of death, the principle of corruption. God doth infants no wrong when they die: their death is of themselves, for they have the seeds of death in themselves. All death is the wages of sin, and therefore can be no injustice to the sinner; thus death reigned form Adam to Moses, yea, even to this day; and, like an insatiable tyrant, will continue to reign and slay universally, and beyond number, from the infant to the aged, from the dunghill to the throne, sparing neither age nor sex, neither great nor small, neither sacred nor profane.
From whence to the end of the chapter, the apostle enters upon a comparison betwixt Adam and Christ, whom he here calls a figure or resemblance of him that was to come, that is, of Christ. As Adam was the root of sin and death to all his natural seed, so Christ is the root of holiness and life to all his spiritual seed.
As by the first Adam, sin, and by sin death came upon all men; so by the second Adam came righteousness, and by righteousness life on all believers. As the fist Adam merited death, so the second Adam life for all his offspring: Thus, Adam was the figure of him that was to come.
The apostle having noted the parity and resemblance between Christ and Adam in the foregoing verses; here he observes the disparity and difference betwixt them, and that in several advantageous particulars:
1. He compares the sin of Adam with the obedience of Christ, and shews that the sin of the one was not so pernicious, as the obedience of the other was beneficial; Christ's obedience being more powerful to justification and salvation, than Adam's sin was to death and condemnation: For if the transgression of Adam, who was but a mere man, was able to pull down death and wrath upon all his natural seed; then the obedience of Christ who is God as well as man, will be much more available to procure pardon and life to all his spiritual seed.
2. There is a further observable difference betwixt Adam and Christ, as in respect of their person, so in respect of their acts, and extent of their acts. Thus Adam by one act of sin brought death, that is, the sentence of death upon the whole world (all mankind becoming subject to mortality for that one sin of his;) but it is many sins of many men, which Christ doth deliver from, in the free gift of our justification; absolving us, not only from that one fault, but from all other faults and offences whatsoever.
Learn hence, That the obedience of Christ extends itself not only to the pardon of original sin in Adam, but to all personal and actual sins whatsoever.
3. The apostle shews the difference betwixt them two, that is, the first and second Adam, as in respect of the effects and consequences of their acts; if by means of one man, and by one offence of that man, the whole race of mankind became subject to death, then much more shall reign with him in glory.
From the whole, note, The infinite wisdom, transcendant grace, and rich mercy of God to a miserable world, in providing a salve as large as the sore, a remedy as extensive as the malady, a sovereign antidote in the blood of the second Adam, to expel the poison and malignity of the sin of the first Adam.
Oh happy they! who having received from the first Adam corruption for corruption, have received from the second Adam grace for grace.
Observe, here, How the apostle informs us of a truth, which all the writing of philosophers never acquainted us with; namely, the meritorious imputation of Adam's sin to all his posterity; that all mankind sinned in Adam, and became obnoxious to death, and all other calamities and miseries, as a punishment for their sin.
Yea, the writings of Moses himself, though they declare to us the sin of Adam, and that his sin was punished with death; yet that, by his disobedience, all his race and posterity were involved, and became miserable, is a truth which we are peculiarly beholden to the gospel, and particularly to this text and context, for the more full discover of.
And the account of that matter seems to stand thus: The rebellion of the first man against the great Creator, was a sin of universal efficacy, that derives a guilt and stain to mankind in all ages of the world.
And the account which the scripture gives of it is grounded on the relation which we have to Adam, as the whole race of mankind was virtually in Adam's loins, so it was presumed to give virtual consent to what he did: When he broke, all his posterity became bankrupts; there being a conspiracy of all the sons of Adam in that rebellion, and not one subject left in his obedience: Add to this, that principal of mankind.
In the first covenant made betwixt God and him, Adam was considered, not as a single person but as a caput gentis; and contracted not for himself only, but for all his descendants, by ordinary generation: His person was the root and fountain of theirs, and his will the representative of theirs: From hence his numerous issue became a party in the covenant, and had a title to the benefits contained in it upon his obedience, and was liable to the curse upon the violation of it: Upon this ground it is, that the apostle here in this text and context, institutes a parallel betwixt Adam and Christ: That as by the disobedience of the former, many were made sinners: so by the obedience of the latter many were made righteous.
As Christ in his death did not suffer as a private person, but as a surety and sponsor representing the whole church: in like manner, Adam in his disobedience was esteemed a public person, representing the whole race of mankind: And by a just law it was not restrained to himself, but is the sin of the common nature.
But adored, forever adored, be the wisdom and goodness of Almighty God, in providing a remedy which bears proportion to the cause of our ruin, but as we fell in Adam our representative, so we are raised by Christ the head of our recovery, which two person are considered as causes of contrary effects!
The effects are sin and righteousness, condemnation, and justification. For as the disobedience of the first Adam is meritoriously imputed to all his natural posterity, and brings death upon all; so the righteousness of the second Adam is meritoriously imputed to all his spiritual progency, to obtain life for them. As the carnal Adam, having lost original righteousness, derives a corrupt nature to all that descend from him: so the spiritual Adam, having, by his obedience, purchased grace for us, conveys a vital efficacy unto us.
The same Spirit of holiness which annointed our Redeemer, doth quicken all his race, that as they have borne the image of the earthly, they may bear the image of the heavenly Adam.
The law entered that sin might abound; That is, before the law was written, we became obnoxious to death by one man's disobedience, without much sense of it; but after the law was given by Moses, sin did more clearly and conspicuously appear to be sin: Its odiousness and ugliness was more manifest to the conscience of the sinner.
As the sinner has abounded in sin, in a way of commission, so sin doth by the discovery of the law abound in the sinner's apprehension, in the sight and sense of it, upon the conscience of the sinner.
Nevertheless, As sin abounds, grace doth much more abound. As the exceeding sinfulness of sin is manifested by the law, so the superabounding grace and pardoning mercy of God is rendered gloriously conspicuous in and by the gospel: That as the power of sin appeared in making us liable to temporal and eternal death, so might the power of grace appear in beginning in us a spiritual life here, and bringing us the eternal life in glory hereafter.
In short, when the apostle says that the law entered, that sin might abound, he doth not mean to make it abound, by encouraging the sinner to the commission of it, but by impression the conviction of it upon the conscience of the sinner. A man without the law looks upon himself as a small sinner; but after he has viewed his sins in the glass of the law, he sees himself a great and mountainous sinner: As a star which a child thinks to be no bigger than a spark; but a man that views it through an instrument, computes it to be bigger than the globe of the earth.
Lord, help us to see our sins in the glass of thy law, yea, in the glass of thy Son's blood; and then we shall be sensible what and infinite and immense evil sin is; namely, the stain and blemish of our natures, the discase and deformity of our minds, the highest infelicity of the creature, and the boldest affront that can be given to the majesty of the great and glorious God.
Learn from the whole, That the riches, the abounding riches, the superabounding riches of God's pardoning grace do thus shine forth:
1. In the nature of the mercy, which is the richest and sweetest of all mercies. No mercy sweeter than a pardon to a condemned sinner, no pardon like God's pardon to a sinner condemned at his bar.
2. In the peculiarity of the mercy. Remission is not a common, but a crowning favour; it never was, never shall be extended to fallen angels; and, it is to be feared, that the far greater part of mankind refuse the terms and conditions upon which pardoning grace and mercy is offered and tendered to them.
3. In the method in which pardoning mercy is dispensed; namely, through the blood of Christ, that all-sufficient sacrifice and satisfaction; by which method, God has more commended his love to us, than if he had pardoned us without a satisfaction; for then he had only displayed his mercy: but now he has delcared his justice, yea, caused mercy and justice to meet and kiss each other, to meet and triumph together.
4. The superabounding riches of pardoning mercy appear in the latitude and extent of that act of grace. Lord, who can understand his errors! yet the blood of thy Son cleanseth from all sin, small and great, secret and open, old and new, original and actual; all pardoned, without exception.
Oh how well might the Psalmist say, With the Lord there is mercy, and with him there is plenteous redemption, Psalms 130:7
Lastly, the riches of pardoning grace do shine forth, as in the peculiarity, so in the perpetuity of remission. As grace pardons all sin, without exception, so the pardons it bestows are without revocation: The pardoned soul shall never come into conemnation; As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us, Psalms 103:12 As the east and west are the two opposite points of heaven, which can never come together; so neither shall the pardoned sinner and his sins ever meet anymore. God is said to cast them behind his back: that is, he will never behold them more, so as to charge them upon the pardoned sinner, in order to his condemnation.
May our faith then, both in life and death, triumph in the assurance of this blessed truth; That where sin abounded, grace did much more abound; and as sin hath reigned unto death, even so hath grace reigned through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives forever in heaven, to apply, by his prevailing intercession, what he impetrated and obtained for us here on earth, by his meritorious satisfaction.
To this Jesus, who is the faithful witness, and first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, who hath loved us and washed us from our sin in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God; unto him be glory and dominion forever and ever.- Amen.
Bibliographical Information Burkitt, William. "Commentary on Romans 5". Burkitt's Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the NT. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/wbc/romans-5.html. 1700-1703.
Verse 1
The first blessed effect and sweet fruit of our justification by faith, is peace and reconciliation with God. Pardon and peace go together, and accompany one another; a sinner being discharged from guilt, and thereby from his obnoxiousness to God's wrath, is instantly brought into a state of friendship and reconciliation with God; for there is no middle state betwixt his favour and his wrath.
Learn hence, 1. That peace, is proclaimed in heaven betwixt God and every justified person whatsoever, the enmity betwixt God and such a soul being taken away: Peace I say, is proclaimed in the sinner's conscience: A person may be in a state of peace, and yet want the sense of peace.
Again, There is a twofold peace with God; one which is opposite to God's paternal anger as a father. Now, the apostle here speaks of the former. Being justified by faith, we have peace with God; that is, God has no more hostile enmity against us, and will not satisfy his justice upon us, by punishing of us; but if we offend him, we shall certainly fall under his frowns and chastisements, and feel the effects of his heavy displeasure as an angry father!
With this agrees that of the learned and pious Bishop Davenant: Deus absolvit justificatum ab omni pana satisfactoria, sed non ab omni pana medicinali & castigatoria.
Learn, 2. That our reconciliation with God is settled upon a sure foundation by Jesus Christ; We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus; that is, through him as a Mediator betwixt God and us; he made peace by the blood of his cross, Colossians 1:20. that is, by his blood shed upon the cross; he meritorious satisfaction brought us into a state of peace and reconciliation, and his prevailing intercession keep us in it: Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 2
A second benefit which flows from justification by faith, is our admission to grace and favour with God: This is a privilege beyond the former; a traitor may be pardoned by his prince, and yet not admitted into the presence of his prince; as Absolem's crime was forgiven, but he must not see his father's face: But by Christ's mediation, every justified person meets with divine acceptance; yea, he is not only brought into a state of grace and favour, but he stands and abides in it. No sufferings from God, no sufferings from man for God's sake, no temptations, no tribulations nor persecutions, can cause God to cast him out of his grace and favour; having access by faith into it, he shall stand and abide in it. True, he may fall under his Father's rod, but he shall never fall from his Father's love: Through Christ we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand.
A third benefit follows. We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Here observe, 1. The happy union and connection between grace and glory; grace is glory begun, and glory is grace consummated; grace is glory in the bud, glory is grace in the fruits; grace is the lowest degree of glory, and glory the highest degree of grace.
Happy soul, that is partaker of the first fruits of grace! thou shalt ere long reap the crop of glory!
Observe, 2. A justified person has the hope of future, glory, and always may, and sometimes can, rejoice in the hope; We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God: He hopes for the glory of God, and well he may, for 'tis purchased for him; 'tis promised to him; he has it already in the first fruits and earnest of that: It is prepared for him, and he is preparing for that; and he rejoices in the hope of his glory, believing it to be great and glorious, sure and certain, never decaying, everlasting.
Verse 3
Here the apostle mentioneth a fourth benefit flowing from justification by faith; and that is, glorying in their present sufferings. He told us before, that justified persons, being at peace with God, rejoiced in hopes of future glory; but, says he, that is not all, they glory in their present tribulations also.
Here note, 1. What sort of sufferings they are which the saints glory in; they are tribulations, that is, such trials and persecutions as did befal them for the profession of the gospel: In these a child of God may rejoice, yea, boast and glory, as a soldier doth of his marks, wounds and scars received in the wars, but not in those sufferings, afflictions and trials which we bring upon ourselves, as punishments for our sins; these we have no more reason to glory in, than a corrected child has to glory in his whipping; What glory is it when we are buffeted for our faults?
Note, 2. To what a height and heroic pitch the spirit of a justified believer may be raised under sufferings for Christ; He may glory in tribulation : It is an high strain of spiritualness in bearing affliction, when a Christian can say, I love to bear : Though I love not that which I suffer, and that which I bear, yet I love to bear what I suffer. But it is a higher pitch than this, to say with the apostle, I rejoice in my sufferings, Colossians 1:24 . For joy is a degree beyond love; yet is it a degree higher still, to take pleasure in reproaches and distresses for Christ's sake, 2 Corinthians 12:10 for pleasure is a degree beyond joy; but to glory in tribulations , is beyond them all; 'tis more than to love, more than to rejoice, more than to take pleasure in them.
Oh the power of faith in Christ, and love unto him, to support and uphold the soul! yea, cause it to glory under the sharpest sufferings and tribulations for him!
Note, 3. That it is not in the tribulations themselves that believers glory, but in the sweet issue, happy fruits, and gracious effects of them; finding that by the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit, tribulation worketh patience ; that is, exerciseth and increaseth patience, and patience begetteth and giveth experience of God's gracious presence with us, of his assistance of us, and of his faithfulness towards us, in and under all our afflictions: And experience of these things worketh in us hope of reward.
Here observe, How one grace generates and begets another: graces have a generation one from another, though they have all but one generation from the Spirit of Christ.
Observe also, That it is not tribulation in its own nature, but when sanctified by the blessed Spirit, that by a happy gradation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope: For when affliction is not sanctified, but meets with a stubborn spirit, Lord, what dreadful effects doth it produce! Then tribulation excites impatience, impatience causes perplexity, perplexity despair, and despair confusion.
Note, 4. The effect and property of the believer's hope. It maketh not ashamed ; his hope will not make him ashamed, neither will he be ever ashamed of his hope: Frustrated hopes fill men with confusion and shame: The justified person shall not find his hopes of glory frustrated, but exceeded; and the reason is added, why the Christian hope will not deceive or shame him, namely, Because the love of God is shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost ; that is, the Holy Spirit doth, in time of tribulation, testify his love to the hearts of the people, which causes them to glory in tribulation.
Learn hence, That in time of affliction, especially of persecution for the sake of Christ, good men have a more sensible feeling of God's love shed abroad in their hearts by the blessed Spirit, both to prepare them for trials, and to support them under them. St. Peter calls this a joy unspeakable; it has the very scent and taste of heaven in it, and there is but a gradual difference betwixt it and the joys of heaven: No sooner doth the Holy Spirit, shed forth the love of God into the believer's heart, by clearing up his interest in the promise, and his title to eternal glory, but the soul is prepared to rejoice in affliction, yea, to glory in tribulation; and it will be as impossible to hinder it, as it is to hinder a man from satisfaction when he is most delighted and pleased: We glory in tribulation, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost .
Verse 6
In this verse, the apostle sets forth the efficacy of Christ's love towards us before justification: He had a love towards us when we were sinners, which prevailed with him to die for sinners; When we were yet without strength, Christ died for the ungodly.
Note here, 1. Man's condition by nature described, a state of enmity, ungodly; and a state of impotency, without strength. We were without strength, and so wanted help; ungodly and so refused help. Man is but an impotent and obstinate creature; without power to resist justice, and without affection to desire mercy: So weak, that he trembles at the appearance of a worm, and yet so wicked, that he lifts up his head against heaven. The state of unregeneracy is both a state of enmity and a state of impotency.
Note, 2. The way and means found out for our recovery, the death of Christ; When we were yet without strength, Christ died for us, Though he found the whole race of mankind buried in the ruins of their lapsed state, yet he did not leave them so, but died for them.
Note, 3. The seasonableness of the means interposed for our recovery: It was in due time that Christ died; that is, in the fulness of time appointed by God the Father, and determined in his decree and purpose.
Here we may remark, That Christ came not in the beginning of time, in the infancy and morning of the world (though it was then promised that he should come) nor yet did he stay till the best period and end of time, but came as it were in the middle of time, which is called the fulness of time, and here due time Galatians 4:4. Christ came not for our recover as soon as ever we were fallen, that mankind might be the more sensible of the badness of their condition: Had we been instantly apprehended the danger of our disease, nor esteemed the kindness of our Physician: Neither did he stay till the last period and end of time before he came, that the faith and expectation of his church might not be put upon too long and severe an exercise: The patriarchs believed in Christ that was to come; the apostles in Christ then present; and Christians now believe in him that long since did come, and is gone again. So that the apostle might well say here, That in due time Christ died.
Verse 7
Here the apostle amplifies, extols, and magnifies the love of Christ in dying for us, when we were enemies to him; by comparing his love to us, with our love to one another: He intimates to us, that amongst men it is very rare and seldom known that one man will lay down his life to save another's; but if so, it must be for a very extraordinary friend, for a person of uncommon goodness, and of eminent worth; For, says he, scarcely for a righteous man will one die.
As if he had said, Such a thing may be, but it is scarcely ever known, that a person will lay down his life for another though he be a very righteous, innocent, and truly honest man. Perhaps for a good man, that is, for a very king and bountiful benefactor; for some person of rare charity, and extraordinary goodness; for a man that is a public blessing and common good to the whole community; some person, from a sense of strong obligations, would even dare to die.
The scope of the apostle is this: To set forth the transcendency of Christ's love in dying for the ungodly, to shew that it is beyond all human example, and that there can be no resemblance, much less any parallel of it; He loved us, and gave himself for us. Had he only as an advocate spoken and pleaded for us, his condescension had been admirable, and his love unspeakable. But to die, yea, to die for us, to be not only our Mediator, but Redeemer; not only our Redeemer, but our Ransom; Here is love beyond comparison: Blessed Jesus! was ever love like thine?
Verse 8
Observe here, How the scripture distinctly represents the love of God in giving Christ to die for us, as well as Christ's love in dying for us: God commended his love; declared expressed and made manifest his love to us: Christ's death is often represented in scripture, as an instance of the great love of the Father towards us; because his wisdom did contrive this way of our redemption; and he has graciously accepted of his Son's sufferings in our stead. Verily, the giving heaven itself, with all its joys and glory, is not so full and perfect a demonstration of the love of God, as the giving of his Son to die for us; especially if we consider one endearing circumstance of this love of God which he commended towards us; namely, That it warmed the heart of God from all eternity, and was never interrupted in that vast duration.
Our salvation by Christ is the product of God's eternal counsel, Acts 2:23 that is, the fruit of his everlasting love; before the world began, we were in the eyes, yea, in and upon the heart of God.
In a word, well might the apostle say, That God commended his love towards us, forasmuch as, in common esteem, he expressed greater love to us, than to Christ himself: For God, in giving him to die for us, declared to us, that our salvation was more-dear to him, than the life of his own Son. God repented that he made man, but never that he gave his Son to redeem man.
Learn hence, That the death of Christ for sinners, is an evident demonstaration of the love of God the Father, and of the Lord Jesus Christ: God commendeth his love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Verse 9
As if the apostle had said, "He that loved us when we were enemies, will not damn us now we are his children. He that reconciled us to himself by his Son's death, that is, for the sake of his Son's sufferings, and satisfaction, will certainly save us from wrath to come by his life, or for the sake of his prevailing intercession;" If when enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son.
Here note, That this word ( if) is not a word of doubting, but of argumentation. The apostle supposes it a known truth, or a principle yielded by all Christians, That the death of Christ was to reconcile sinners unto God.
Learn hence, That Christ has reconciled God and us by the satisfaction which his death has made to the justice of God for our sins; and reparation being made, the enmity ceases on God's part if the terms of reconciliation be accepted on our part.
Our reconciliation with God, when enemies, was effected,
1. By the sacrifice of the death of Christ, which was the price that purchased it.
2. By the application of that benefit to us through faith:
And, 3. By Christ's potent and eternal intercession, whereby our state of reconciliation is confirmed and all future breaches prevented: For if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, even Christ the righteous, 1 John 2:1-2.
We dare not say, that God could not have reconciled us any other way but this; but we may safely say, that no way like this was so expressive of his love to us; it was the most obliging and endearing way imaginable, to reconcile us to himself by the death of his Son.
Verse 11
As if the apostle had said, "And moreover, we are not only reconciled to, but we glory and rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have received the atonement or reconciliation."
Here note, The Christian's great duty to rejoice, the cause of that is joy, his reconciliation with God, and the means by which he obtains reconciliation with God; through our Lord Jesus Christ; that is, through the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, and through faith in his death.
Hence learn, That our rejoicing, as to reconciliation with God, depends upon our believing; it is none, if our faith be none; little, if our faith be little; great, if our faith be great. No man can rejoice in an unknown good; let us therefore give all diligence to clear up to ourselves our interest in this atonement: Christ thought it worth his blood to purchase it; surely then it is worth our pains to clear it, in order to our rejoicing in it. He that seeks not reconciliation with God, is an enemy to his soul; and he that rejoices not in that reconciliation, is an enemy to his own comfort.
Verse 12
The doctrine of original sin is not more difficult to be understood, than it is necessary to be known: the apostle here declares the manner how sin and death entered the world, namely, by the fall of Adam the first man: By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin.
Note, 1. An unhappy parent; namely, Adam: By him sin entered into the world.
2. An unhappy posterity; namely, the whole world, proceeding from and coming out of the loins of Adam, in whom all have sinned.
3. An unhappy portion; sin and death: Sin entered by Adam, and death entered by sin. This was the legacy which Adam left to all his posterity.
Now the sad and mournful truth which the scripture contains, is this: "That our first parent, by his transgression, hath entailed a miserable inheritance, an unhappy portion of sin and death upon all posterity." Adam's sin becomes ours.
1. By meritorious imputation: God treated with him not as a private person, but as caput gentis, as the root and parent of all mankind.
Hence a comparison is often made between the first and second Adam; the grace of the one, with the sin of the other: the life conveyed by the one, and the death transmitted by the other.
By Adam we were cast, by Christ we were cleared; cursed in Adam, crowned in Christ. Now this comparison would be wholly insignificant, if Adam had not been looked upon as the representative of us all.
2. The sin of Adam is derived to us by way of inhesion: We have received from him a depravity of nature, and evil disposition, a propension to all mischief, and aversion to all good.
The sin of Adam transmitted to us, doth not only cause guilt upon our persons, but filth upon our natures; not only lay a charge to us, but throws a stain upon us.
3. We make Adam's sin our own by imitation, by treading in the steps of his disobedience. Every sin we commit in defiance of the threatenings of God, is a justifying of Adam's rebellion against God; and accordingly, we die by our own folly, as well as by his fall; our destruction is of ourselves, by our actual rebellions; and we shall at the great day charge our sin and misery upon ourselves, not on God, but on Satan, not on instruments, not on our first parents.
Verse 13
The apostle having asserted the doctrine of original sin in the former verse, he prosecutes and pursues it in this and the following verses: asserting, That it is evident all have sinned, because sin was always in the world; not only after the giving of the law by Moses, but also before, even from the beginning of the world to that time.
As if the apostle had said, There was certainly a law given before there was a law written: a law given to Adam, before a law written by Moses; now this law was either the law of nature written in Adam's heart, or the postive law of God given to Adam, against which law men were capable of offending before the law of Moses was written; otherwise sin would not have been imputed to them, for sin is not imputed where there is no law."
Learn hence, That God having created man a rational creature, capable of moral government, is by immediate resultancy his King and governor, and has ruled him from the beginning by a law, yet not barely by a law, but by a covenant, with promises and threatenings annexed, rewarding him for his obedience, and punishing him for his rebellion.
Verse 14
The apostle had asserted, That sin was in the world before the written law of Moses; here he proves it thus: "Death, the wages of sin, did reign in the world, and had power over all mankind from Adam to Moses; therefore sin was in the world from Adam to Moses." By them that have not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, infants are generally understood; the guilt of Adam's sin is imputed to them, else death could have no power over them.
The argument runs thus: Death is a punishment of sin, but infants die who never sinned actually, therefore they die for Adam's sin: Sin brought mortality into their nature, and the wages of sin is death: They brought a sinful nature into the world with them, which God gave the Jews of old an intimation of, by appointing the sacrament of circumcision signifying that infants brought something into the world with them, which was early to be cut off; he also signifies the same to us Christians, by appointing the ordinance of baptism for children, which he calls the laver of regeneration: Now, a laver supposes uncleanness; what is pure, needs no laver.
Learn hence, That infants, as soon as they live, have in them the seeds of death: Sin is the seed of death, the principle of corruption. God doth infants no wrong when they die: their death is of themselves, for they have the seeds of death in themselves. All death is the wages of sin, and therefore can be no injustice to the sinner; thus death reigned form Adam to Moses, yea, even to this day; and, like an insatiable tyrant, will continue to reign and slay universally, and beyond number, from the infant to the aged, from the dunghill to the throne, sparing neither age nor sex, neither great nor small, neither sacred nor profane.
From whence to the end of the chapter, the apostle enters upon a comparison betwixt Adam and Christ, whom he here calls a figure or resemblance of him that was to come, that is, of Christ. As Adam was the root of sin and death to all his natural seed, so Christ is the root of holiness and life to all his spiritual seed.
As by the first Adam, sin, and by sin death came upon all men; so by the second Adam came righteousness, and by righteousness life on all believers. As the fist Adam merited death, so the second Adam life for all his offspring: Thus, Adam was the figure of him that was to come.
Verse 15
The apostle having noted the parity and resemblance between Christ and Adam in the foregoing verses; here he observes the disparity and difference betwixt them, and that in several advantageous particulars:
1. He compares the sin of Adam with the obedience of Christ, and shews that the sin of the one was not so pernicious, as the obedience of the other was beneficial; Christ's obedience being more powerful to justification and salvation, than Adam's sin was to death and condemnation: For if the transgression of Adam, who was but a mere man, was able to pull down death and wrath upon all his natural seed; then the obedience of Christ who is God as well as man, will be much more available to procure pardon and life to all his spiritual seed.
2. There is a further observable difference betwixt Adam and Christ, as in respect of their person, so in respect of their acts, and extent of their acts. Thus Adam by one act of sin brought death, that is, the sentence of death upon the whole world (all mankind becoming subject to mortality for that one sin of his;) but it is many sins of many men, which Christ doth deliver from, in the free gift of our justification; absolving us, not only from that one fault, but from all other faults and offences whatsoever.
Learn hence, That the obedience of Christ extends itself not only to the pardon of original sin in Adam, but to all personal and actual sins whatsoever.
3. The apostle shews the difference betwixt them two, that is, the first and second Adam, as in respect of the effects and consequences of their acts; if by means of one man, and by one offence of that man, the whole race of mankind became subject to death, then much more shall reign with him in glory.
From the whole, note, The infinite wisdom, transcendant grace, and rich mercy of God to a miserable world, in providing a salve as large as the sore, a remedy as extensive as the malady, a sovereign antidote in the blood of the second Adam, to expel the poison and malignity of the sin of the first Adam.
Oh happy they! who having received from the first Adam corruption for corruption, have received from the second Adam grace for grace.
Verse 18
Observe, here, How the apostle informs us of a truth, which all the writing of philosophers never acquainted us with; namely, the meritorious imputation of Adam's sin to all his posterity; that all mankind sinned in Adam, and became obnoxious to death, and all other calamities and miseries, as a punishment for their sin.
Yea, the writings of Moses himself, though they declare to us the sin of Adam, and that his sin was punished with death; yet that, by his disobedience, all his race and posterity were involved, and became miserable, is a truth which we are peculiarly beholden to the gospel, and particularly to this text and context, for the more full discover of.
And the account of that matter seems to stand thus: The rebellion of the first man against the great Creator, was a sin of universal efficacy, that derives a guilt and stain to mankind in all ages of the world.
And the account which the scripture gives of it is grounded on the relation which we have to Adam, as the whole race of mankind was virtually in Adam's loins, so it was presumed to give virtual consent to what he did: When he broke, all his posterity became bankrupts; there being a conspiracy of all the sons of Adam in that rebellion, and not one subject left in his obedience: Add to this, that principal of mankind.
In the first covenant made betwixt God and him, Adam was considered, not as a single person but as a caput gentis; and contracted not for himself only, but for all his descendants, by ordinary generation: His person was the root and fountain of theirs, and his will the representative of theirs: From hence his numerous issue became a party in the covenant, and had a title to the benefits contained in it upon his obedience, and was liable to the curse upon the violation of it: Upon this ground it is, that the apostle here in this text and context, institutes a parallel betwixt Adam and Christ: That as by the disobedience of the former, many were made sinners: so by the obedience of the latter many were made righteous.
As Christ in his death did not suffer as a private person, but as a surety and sponsor representing the whole church: in like manner, Adam in his disobedience was esteemed a public person, representing the whole race of mankind: And by a just law it was not restrained to himself, but is the sin of the common nature.
But adored, forever adored, be the wisdom and goodness of Almighty God, in providing a remedy which bears proportion to the cause of our ruin, but as we fell in Adam our representative, so we are raised by Christ the head of our recovery, which two person are considered as causes of contrary effects!
The effects are sin and righteousness, condemnation, and justification. For as the disobedience of the first Adam is meritoriously imputed to all his natural posterity, and brings death upon all; so the righteousness of the second Adam is meritoriously imputed to all his spiritual progency, to obtain life for them. As the carnal Adam, having lost original righteousness, derives a corrupt nature to all that descend from him: so the spiritual Adam, having, by his obedience, purchased grace for us, conveys a vital efficacy unto us.
The same Spirit of holiness which annointed our Redeemer, doth quicken all his race, that as they have borne the image of the earthly, they may bear the image of the heavenly Adam.
Verse 20
The law entered that sin might abound; That is, before the law was written, we became obnoxious to death by one man's disobedience, without much sense of it; but after the law was given by Moses, sin did more clearly and conspicuously appear to be sin: Its odiousness and ugliness was more manifest to the conscience of the sinner.
As the sinner has abounded in sin, in a way of commission, so sin doth by the discovery of the law abound in the sinner's apprehension, in the sight and sense of it, upon the conscience of the sinner.
Nevertheless, As sin abounds, grace doth much more abound. As the exceeding sinfulness of sin is manifested by the law, so the superabounding grace and pardoning mercy of God is rendered gloriously conspicuous in and by the gospel: That as the power of sin appeared in making us liable to temporal and eternal death, so might the power of grace appear in beginning in us a spiritual life here, and bringing us the eternal life in glory hereafter.
In short, when the apostle says that the law entered, that sin might abound, he doth not mean to make it abound, by encouraging the sinner to the commission of it, but by impression the conviction of it upon the conscience of the sinner. A man without the law looks upon himself as a small sinner; but after he has viewed his sins in the glass of the law, he sees himself a great and mountainous sinner: As a star which a child thinks to be no bigger than a spark; but a man that views it through an instrument, computes it to be bigger than the globe of the earth.
Lord, help us to see our sins in the glass of thy law, yea, in the glass of thy Son's blood; and then we shall be sensible what and infinite and immense evil sin is; namely, the stain and blemish of our natures, the discase and deformity of our minds, the highest infelicity of the creature, and the boldest affront that can be given to the majesty of the great and glorious God.
Learn from the whole, That the riches, the abounding riches, the superabounding riches of God's pardoning grace do thus shine forth:
1. In the nature of the mercy, which is the richest and sweetest of all mercies. No mercy sweeter than a pardon to a condemned sinner, no pardon like God's pardon to a sinner condemned at his bar.
2. In the peculiarity of the mercy. Remission is not a common, but a crowning favour; it never was, never shall be extended to fallen angels; and, it is to be feared, that the far greater part of mankind refuse the terms and conditions upon which pardoning grace and mercy is offered and tendered to them.
3. In the method in which pardoning mercy is dispensed; namely, through the blood of Christ, that all-sufficient sacrifice and satisfaction; by which method, God has more commended his love to us, than if he had pardoned us without a satisfaction; for then he had only displayed his mercy: but now he has delcared his justice, yea, caused mercy and justice to meet and kiss each other, to meet and triumph together.
4. The superabounding riches of pardoning mercy appear in the latitude and extent of that act of grace. Lord, who can understand his errors! yet the blood of thy Son cleanseth from all sin, small and great, secret and open, old and new, original and actual; all pardoned, without exception.
Oh how well might the Psalmist say, With the Lord there is mercy, and with him there is plenteous redemption, Psalms 130:7
Lastly, the riches of pardoning grace do shine forth, as in the peculiarity, so in the perpetuity of remission. As grace pardons all sin, without exception, so the pardons it bestows are without revocation: The pardoned soul shall never come into conemnation; As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us, Psalms 103:12 As the east and west are the two opposite points of heaven, which can never come together; so neither shall the pardoned sinner and his sins ever meet anymore. God is said to cast them behind his back: that is, he will never behold them more, so as to charge them upon the pardoned sinner, in order to his condemnation.
May our faith then, both in life and death, triumph in the assurance of this blessed truth; That where sin abounded, grace did much more abound; and as sin hath reigned unto death, even so hath grace reigned through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives forever in heaven, to apply, by his prevailing intercession, what he impetrated and obtained for us here on earth, by his meritorious satisfaction.
To this Jesus, who is the faithful witness, and first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, who hath loved us and washed us from our sin in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God; unto him be glory and dominion forever and ever.- Amen.