persons

From hence it is evident that four things are required unto that redemption, which is a deliverance by price or ransom, from this state. For, 1. It must be by such a ransom, as whereby the guilt of sin is expiated; which was the meritorious cause of our captivity. Hence it is called the redemption of transgressions, ver. 14, that is, of from that state and condition whereinto they were cast by sin or transgression. 2. Such as wherewith, in respect of God, atonement must be made, and satisfaction unto his justice, as the supreme Ruler and Judge of all. 3. Such as whereby the curse of the law might be removed, which could not be without undergoing of it. 4. Such as whereby the power of Satan might be destroyed: How all this was done by the blood of Christ, I have at large declared elsewhere.

2. This redemption is said to be awviav, 'eternal.' And it is so on many accounts: 1. Of the subject-matter of it, which are things eternal; none of them are carnal or temporal. The state of bondage from which we are delivered by it in all its causes, was spiritual, not temporal; and the effects of it in liberty, grace, and glory, are eternal. 2. Of its duration. It was not for a season, like that of the people out of Egypt, or the deliverances which they had afterwards under the judges, and on other occasions. They endured in their effects only for a season, and afterwards new troubles of the same kind overtook them. But this was eternal in all the effects of it; none that are partakers of it, do ever return into a state of bondage. So, 3. It endures in those effects unto all eternity in heaven itself.

3. This redemption Christ obtained by his blood. Having done all in the sacrifice of himself that was in the justice, holiness, and wisdom of God required thereunto, it was wholly in his power to confer all the benefits and effects of it on the church, on them that do believe. And sundry things we may observe from this verse.

Obs. I. The entrance of our Lord Jesus Christ as our high priest into heaven, to appear in the presence of God for us, and to save us thereby unto the uttermost, was a thing so great and glorious, as could not be accomplished but by his own blood. No other sacrifice was sufficient unto this end. Not by the blood of bulls and goats.' The reason hereof the apostle declares at large, ch. x. 5-10. Men seldom rise in their thoughts unto the greatness of this mystery. Yea, with the most, this blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified unto the remainder of his work, is a common thing. The ruin of Christian religion lies in the slight thoughts of men about the blood of Christ; and pernicious errors do abound in opposition unto the true nature of the sacrifice which he made thereby. Even the faith of the best is weak and imperfect, as to the comprehension of the glory of it. Our relief is, that the uninterrupted contemplation of it will be a part of our blessedness unto eternity. But yet whilst we are here, we can neither understand how great is the salvation which is tendered to us thereby, nor be thankful for it, without a due consideration of the way whereby the Lord Christ entered into the holy place. And he will be the most humble and most fruitful Christian, whose faith is most exercised, most conversant about it.

Obs. II. Whatever difficulties lay in the way of Christ, as unto the

accomplishment and perfection of the work of our redemption, he would not decline them, nor desist from his undertaking, whatever it cost him. Sacrifice and burnt-offering thou wouldst not have; then said 1, Lo I come to do thy will, O God.' He made his way into the holy place by his own blood. What was required of him for us that we might be saved, he would not decline, though never so great and dreadful; and surely we ought not to decline what he requires of us, that he may be honoured.

Obs. III. There was a holy place meet to receive the Lord Christ, after the sacrifice of himself; and a suitable reception for such a person, after so glorious a performance. It was a place of great glory and beauty, whereinto the high priest of old entered by the blood of calves and goats; the visible pledges of the presence of God were in it, whereunto no other person might approach. But our high priest was not to enter into any holy place made with hands, unto outward visible pledges of the presence of God, but into the heaven of heavens, the place of the glorious residence of the majesty of God itself.

Obs. IV. If the Lord Christ entered not into the holy place until he had finished his work, we may not expect an entrance thereinto until we have finished ours. He fainted not, nor waxed weary, until all was finished; and it is our duty to arm ourselves with the same mind. Obs. V. It must be a glorious effect, which had so glorious a cause; and so it was, even 'eternal redemption.'

Obs. VI. The nature of our redemption, the way of its procurement, with the duties required of us with respect thereunto, are greatly to be considered by us.

son.

VER. 13, 14.—THERE is in these verses an argument and compariBut the comparison is such, as that the ground of it is laid in the relation of the comparates, the one to the other, namely, that the one was the type, and the other the antitype, otherwise the argument will not hold. For although it follows, that he who can do the greater, can do the less, whereon an argument will hold à majori ad minus; yet it doth not absolutely hold, that if that which is less can do that which is less, then that which is greater can do that which is greater; which would be the force of the argument, if there were nothing but a naked comparison in it. But it necessarily follows hereon, if that which is less, in that less thing which it doth or did, was therein a type of that which was greater, in that greater thing which it was to effect. And this was the case in the thing here proposed by the apostle. The words are:

VER. 13, 14.—Ει γαρ το αίμα ταυρων και τραγων, και σποδος δαμαλεως ραντίζουσα τους κεκοινωμένους, ἁγιάζει προς την της σαρκός καθαρότητα, ποσῳ μαλλον το αἷμα του Χριστου, ὁς δια Πνεύματος αιωνίου ἑαυτον προσηνεγκεν αμωμον τῷ Θεῷ, καθαριεί την συνειδησιν ήμων (ύμων) απο νεκρών έργων, εις το λατρεύειν Θεῳ ζωντι.

THE words have no difficulty in them as to their grammatical sense; nor is there any considerable variation in the rendering of them in the

old translations. Only the Syriac retains by, that is pooxwv, from ver. 11, instead of ravowv here used. And both that and the Vulgate place roaywv here before ravowv, as in the foregoing verse, contrary unto all copies of the original as to the order of the words.

τραγων

For Πνεύματος αιωνιου, the Vulgate reads Πνευματος ἁγιου, per Spiritum sanctum. The Syriac follows the original, by

the eternal Spirit.'

7, by

Την συνειδησιν ήμων. The original copies vary, some reading ήμων, 'our,' but most vuov, 'your,' which our translators follow.

VER. 13, 14.-For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth unto the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot unto God, purge your conscience from dead works, to serve the living God?

THE words are argumentative, in the form of an hypothetical syllogism, wherein the assumption of the proposition is supposed, as proved before. That which is to be confirmed is what was asserted in the words foregoing; namely, that the Lord Jesus Christ, by his blood, hath obtained for us eternal redemption. This the causal redditive conjunction, yap, 'for,' doth manifest; whereunto the note of a supposition, &, if,' is premised as a note of an hypothetical argumentation.

There are two parts of this confirmation: 1. A most full declaration of the way and means whereby he obtained that redemption; it was by the offering himself, through the eternal Spirit, without spot, unto God.' 2. By comparing this way of it with the typical sacrifices and ordinances of God. For arguing ad homines, that is, unto the satisfaction and conviction of the Hebrews, the apostle makes use of their confessions to confirm his own assertions. And his argument consists of two parts: 1st. A concession of their efficacy unto their proper end. 2nd. An inference from thence unto the greater and more noble efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ, taken partly from the relation of type and antitype that was between them, but principally from the different nature of the things themselves.

To make evident the force of his argument in general, we must observe, 1. That what he had proved before, he takes here for granted, on the one side and the other. And this was, that all the Levitical services and ordinances were in themselves carnal, and had carnal ends assigned unto them, and had only an obscure representation of things spiritual and eternal; and on the other side, that the tabernacle, office, and sacrifice of Christ were spiritual, and had their effects in eternal things. 2. That those carnal earthly things were, in God's appointment of them, types and resemblances of those which are spiritual and eternal.

From these suppositions, the argument is firm and stable; and there are two parts of it: 1. That as the ordinances of old being carnal, had an efficacy unto their proper end, to purify the unclean as to the flesh; so the sacrifice of Christ hath a certain efficacy unto its proper end, namely, the purging of our consciences from dead works. The force of this inference depends on the relation that was between them in the

appointment of God. 2. That there was a greater efficacy, and that which gave a greater evidence of itself, in the sacrifice of Christ, with respect unto its proper end, than there was in those sacrifices and ordinances, with respect unto their proper end: how much more.' And the reason hereof is, because all their efficacy depended on a mere arbitrary institution. In themselves, that is, in their own nature, they had neither worth, value, nor efficacy, no not as unto those ends whereunto they were, by divine institution, designed. But in the sacrifice of Christ, who is therefore here said to offer himself unto God through the eternal Spirit,' there is an innate glorious worth and efficacy which, suitably unto the rules of eternal reason and righteousness, will accomplish and procure its effects.

VER. 13. There are two things in this verse which are the ground from whence the apostle argueth and maketh his inference in that which follows. 1. A proposition of the sacrifices and services of the law which he had respect unto 2. An assignation of a certain efficacy unto them.

The sacrifices of the law he refers unto two heads. 1. The blood of bulls and goats. 2. The ashes of an heifer. And the distinction is, 1. from the matter of them; 2. the manner of their performance. For the manner of their performance, the blood of bulls and goats was 'offered,' which is supposed and included; the ashes of the heifer were sprinkled, as it is expressed.

First. The matter of the first is the blood, Taνowv kaι тpaywv, of bulls and goats.' The same, say some, with the goats and calves mentioned in the verse foregoing. So, generally, do the expositors of the Roman church; and that because their translation reads hircorum et vitulorum, contrary unto the original text. And some instances they give of the same signification of μοσχων and ταυρων. But the apostle had just reason for the alteration of his expression. For in the foregoing verse, he had respect only unto the anniversary sacrifice of the high priest, but here he enlargeth the subject, unto the consideration of all other expiatory sacrifices under the law. For he joins unto the blood of bulls and goats the ashes of an heifer,' which was of no use in the anniversary sacrifice. Wherefore he designed in these words summarily to express all sacrifices of expiation, and all ordinances of purification that were appointed under the law. And therefore the words in the close of the verse, expressing the end and effects of these ordinances, 'purified the unclean as unto the flesh,' are not to be restrained unto them immediately foregoing, the ashes of an heifer sprinkled; but an equal respect is to be had unto the other sort, or the blood of bulls and goats.'

The Socinian expositor, in his entrance into that wresting of this text, wherein he labours in a peculiar manner, denies that the water of sprinkling is here to be considered as typical of Christ, and that because it is the anniversary sacrifice alone which is intended, wherein it was of no use. Yet he adds immediately, that in itself it was a type of Christ; so wresting the truth against his own convictions, to force his design. But the conclusion is strong on the other hand; because it

was a type of Christ, and is so here considered, whereas it was not used in the great anniversary sacrifice, it is not that sacrifice alone which the apostle hath respect unto.

Wherefore by 'bulls and goats,' by an usual synecdoche, all the several kinds of clean beasts, whose blood was given unto the people to make atonement withal, are intended. So is the matter of all sacrifices expressed, Ps. 1. 13, Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?' Sheep are contained under goats, being all beasts of the flock. And it is the blood of these bulls and goats which is proposed as the first way or means of the expiation of sin, and purification under the law. For it was by their blood, and that as offered at the altar, that atonement was made, Lev. xvii. 11. Purification was also made thereby, even by the sprinkling of it.

Secondly. The second thing mentioned unto the same end is the ashes of an heifer, and the use of it, which was by 'sprinkling,' σodos dauaλews, pavrovoa. The institution, use, and end of this ordinance is described at large, Num. xix. And an eminent type of Christ there was therein, both as to his suffering and the continual efficacy of the cleansing virtue of his blood in the church. It would too much divert us from the present argument to consider all the particulars wherein. there was a representation of the sacrifice of Christ, and the purging virtue of it in this ordinance; yet the mention of some of them is of use unto the explication of the apostle's general design. As,

1. It was to be a red heifer, and that without spot or blemish, whereon no yoke had come,' ver. 2. Red is the colour of guilt, Isa. i. 18, yet was there no spot or blemish in the heifer; so was the guilt of sin upon Christ, who in himself was absolutely pure and holy. No yoke had been on her; nor was there any constraint on Christ, but he offered himself willingly through the eternal Spirit.

2. She was to be had forth without the camp,' ver. 3, which the apostle alludes unto, ch. xiii. 11, representing Christ going out of the city unto his suffering and oblation.

3. One did slay her before the face of the priest, and not the priest himself. So the hands of others, Jews and Gentiles, were used in the slaying of our sacrifice.

4. The heifer being slain, its blood was sprinkled by the priest seven times, directly before the tabernacle of the congregation, ver. 4. So is the whole church purified by the sprinkling of the blood of Christ.

5. The whole heifer was to be burned in the sight of the priest, ver. 5. So was whole Christ, soul and body, offered up to God in the fire of love, kindled in him by the eternal Spirit.

6. Cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet, were to be cast into the midst of the burning of the heifer, ver. 6, which were all used by God's institution in the purification of the unclean, or the sanctification and dedication of any thing to sacred use; to teach us that all spiritual virtue unto these ends, really and eternally, was contained in the one offering of Christ.

7. Both the priest who sprinkled the blood, the men that slew the heifer, and he that burned her, and he that gathered her ashes, were all

VOL. IV.

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