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as it was a conformity to the law of Moses, it was part of his
meritorious righteousness. Though it was not properly the
act of his human nature, he being an infant; yet it being
what the human nature was the subject of, and being the act
of that person, it was accepted as an act of his obedience as
our mediator.

And so even his being born in such a low condition had the
nature of satisfaction, by reason of the humiliation that was in
it, and also of righteousness, as it was the act of his person in
obedience to the Father, and what the human nature was the
subject of, and what the will of the human nature did acqui-
esce in, though there was no act of the will of the human na
ture prior to it.

THESE things may suffice to have observed in the general concerning the purchase Christ made of redemption.

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SECTION III.

I NOW proceed to speak more particularly of those things
which Christ did, and was the subject of, during the time of
his humiliation, whereby this purchase was made......And the
nature of the purchase of Christ, as it has been explained,
leads us to consider these things under a twofold view, viz..
1. With respect to his righteousness, which appeared in
them.

2. With respect to the sufferings and humiliation that he
was subject to in them in our stead.

§ I. I will consider the things that passed during the time of Christ's humiliation, with respect to the obedience and rightcousness that he exercised in them. And this is subject to a threefold distribution. I shall therefore consider his obedi

ence.

1. With respect to the laws which he obeyed.

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2. With respect to the different stages of his life in which he performed it,

3. With respect to the virtues he exercised in his obedi

ence.

I. THE first distribution of the acts of Christ's righteousness is with respect to the laws which Christ obeyed in that righteousness which he performed. But here it must be ob served in general, that all the precepts which Christ obeyed may be reduced to one law, and that is that which the apostle calls the law of works, Rom, iii. 27. Every command that Christ obeyed may be reduced to that great and everlasting law of God that is contained in the covenant of works, that eternal rule of right which God had established between himself and mankind. Christ came into the world to fulfil and answer the covenant of works; that is, the covenant that is to stand forever as a rule of judgment; and that is the cove pant that we had broken, and that was the 'covenant that must be fulfilled.

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This law of works indeed includes all the laws of God which ever have been given to mankind; for it is a general rule of the law of works, and indeed of the law of nature, That God is to be obeyed, and that he must be submitted to in whatever positive precept he is pleased to give us. It is a rule of the law of works, That men should obey their earthly parents; and it is certainly as much a rule of the same law, That we should obey our heavenly Father: And so the law of works requires obedience to all positive commands of God. It required Adam's obedience to that positive command, Not to eat of the forbidden fruit; and it required obedience of the Jews to all the positive commands of their institution. When God commanded Jonah to arise and go to Nineveh, the law of works required him to obey; And so it required Christ's obedience to all the positive commands which God gave him.

But, more particularly, the commands of God which Christ obeyed, were of three kinds; they were either such as he was subject to merely as man, or such as he was subject to as he was a Jew, or such as he was subject to purely as Mediator,

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1. He obeyed those commands which he was subject to merely as man: And they were the commands of the moral law, which was the same with that which was given at Mount Sinai, written in two tables of stone, which are obligatory on mankind of all nations and all ages of the world.

2. He obeyed all those laws he was subject to as he was a Jew. Thus he was subject to the ceremonial law, and was conformed to it. He was conformed to it in his being circumcised the eighth day; and he strictly obeyed it in going up to Jerusalem to the temple three times a year; at least after he was come to the age of twelve years, which seems to have been the age when the males began to go up to the temple. And so Christ constantly attended the service of the temple, and of the synagogues.

To this head of his obedience to the law that he was subject to as a Jew, may be reduced his submission to John's baptism. For it was a special command to the Jews, to go forth to John the Baptist, and be baptized of him; and therefore Christ be ing a Jew, was subject to this command; and therefore, when he came to be baptized of John, and John objected, that he had more need to come to him to be baptized of him, he gives this reason for it, that it was needful that he should do it, that he might fulfil all righteousness. See Matt. iii. 13, 14, 15.

3. Another law that Christ was subject to was the mediatorial law, which contained those commands of God to which he was subject not merely as man, nor yet as a Jew, but which related purely to his mediatorial office. Such were the commands which the Father gave him, to teach such doctrines, to preach the gospel, to work such miracles, to call such disciples, to appoint such ordinances, and finally to lay down his life: For he did all these things in obedience to commands he had received of the Father, as he often tells us. And these commands he was not subject to merely as man; for they did not belong to other men; nor yet was he subject to them as a Jew; for they were no part of the Mosaic law; but they were commands that he had received of the father, that purely respected the work he was to do in the world in his meatorial office.

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And it is to be observed, that Christ's righteousness, by which he merited heaven for himself, and all who believe in him, consists principally in his obedience to this mediatorial law: For in fulfilling this law consisted his chief work and business in the world. The history of the Evangelists is chiefly taken up in giving an account of his obedience to this law: And this part of his obedience was that which was attended with the greatest difficulty of all; and therefore his obedience in it was most meritorious. What Christ had to do in the world by virtue of his being Mediator, was infinitely more difficult than what he had to do merely as a man, or as a Jew. To his obedience to this mediatorial law belongs his going through his last sufferings, beginning with his agony in the garden, and ending with his resurrection.

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As the obedience of the first Adam, wherein his righteousness would have consisted, if he had stood, would have mainly consisted, not in his obedience to the moral law, to which he was subject merely as man, but in his obedience to that special law that he was subject to as moral head and surety of mankind, even the command of abstaining from the tree of knowledge of good and evil; so the obedience of the second Adam, wherein his righteousness consists, lies mainly, not in his obedience to the law that he was subject to merely as man, but to that special law which he was subject to in his office as Mediator and surety for man.

BEFORE I proceed to the next distribution of Christ's rightI would observe three things concerning Christ's obedience to these laws.

eousness,

1. He performed that obedience to them which was in every respect perfect. It was universal as to the kinds of laws that he was subject to; he obeyed each of these three laws; and it was universal with respect to every individual precept contained in these laws, and it was perfect as to each command. It was perfect as to positive transgressions avoided: For he never transgressed in one instance; he was guilty of no sin of commission. And it was perfect with respect to the work commanded: He perfected the whole work that each

command required, and never was guilty of any sin of omission. And it was perfect with respect to the principle from which he obeyed: His heart was perfect, his principles were wholly right, there was no corruption in his heart. And it was perfect with respect to the ends he acted for: For he never had any by ends, but aimed perfectly at such ends as the law of God required. And it was perfect with respect to the manner of performance Every circumstance of each act was perfectly conformed to the command. And it was per fect with respect to the degree of the performance: He acted wholly up to the rule. And it was perfect with respect to the constancy of obedience: He did not only perfectly obey sometimes, but constantly, without any interruption. And it was perfect with respect to perseverance: He held out in perfect obedience to the very end, through all the changes he passed and all the trials that were before him.

The meritoriousness of Christ's obedience, depends on the perfection of it. If it had failed in any instance of perfection, it could not have been meritorious For imperfect obedience is not accepted as any obedience at all in the sight of the law of works, which was that law that Christ was subject to; for that is not accepted as an obedience to a law that does not answer that law.

2. The next thing I would observe of Christ's obedience is, that it was performed through the greatest trials and tempta tions that ever any obedience was, His obedience was attend◄ ed with the greatest difficulties, and most extreme abasement and sufferings that ever any obedience was; which was another thing that rendered it more meritorious and thank worthy. To obey another when his commands are easy, is not so worthy, as it is to obey when it cannot be done without great difficulty.

3. He performed this obedience with infinite respect to God, and the honor of his law. The obedience he performed was with infinitely greater love to God, and regard to his authority, than the angels perform their obedience with. The angels perform their obedience with that love which is perfect, with sinless perfection: But Christ did not do so, but he per