CHAPTER XVII.02

IV. But when we say that grace is procured for us by the merit of Christ, we intend, that we have been purified by his blood, and that his death was an expiation for sins. “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.”1352 “This blood is shed for the remission of sins.”1353 If the non-imputation of our sins to us be the effect of the blood which he shed, it follows that this was the price of satisfaction to the justice of God. This is confirmed by the declaration of the Baptist: “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”1354 For he opposes Christ to all the sacrifices of the law, to show that what they prefigured was accomplished in him alone. Now we know what Moses frequently says—that an atonement shall be made for sin, and it shall be forgiven. In short, the ancient figures give us a fine exhibition of the power and efficacy of the death of Christ. And the apostle copiously discusses this subject in the Epistle to the Hebrews, judiciously assuming this as a fundamental principle, that “without shedding of blood there is no remission.” Whence he infers, that Christ has “once appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself;” and that “he was offered to bear the sins of many.”1355 He had already said, that “Not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood; he entered once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption.”1356 Now, when he argues in this manner, “If the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ purge your conscience from dead works!”1357 it evidently appears that we too much undervalue the grace of Christ, unless we attribute to his sacrifice an expiatory, placatory, and satisfactory efficacy. Therefore it is immediately added, “He is the mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”1358 But we ought particularly to consider the relation described by Paul, that he was “made a curse for us.”1359 For it would be unnecessary, and consequently absurd, for Christ to be loaded with a curse, except in order to discharge the debts due from others, and thereby to obtain a righteousness for them. The testimony of Isaiah likewise is clear, that “the chastisement [pg 480] of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”1360 For if Christ had not made a satisfaction for our sins, he could not be said to have appeased God by suffering the punishment to which we were exposed. This is confirmed by a subsequent clause: “For the transgression of my people was he stricken.”1361 Let us add the interpretation of Peter, which will remove all difficulty, that “he bare our sins in his own body on the tree;”1362 which imports that the burden of condemnation, from which we have been relieved, was laid upon Christ.

V. The apostles explicitly declare, that he paid a price to redeem us from the sentence of death: “Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood.”1363 Here Paul celebrates the grace of God, because he has given the price of our redemption in the death of Christ; and then enjoins us to betake ourselves to his blood, that we may obtain righteousness, and may stand secure before the judgment of God. Peter confirms the same when he says, “Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”1364 For there would be no propriety in the comparison, unless this blood had been the price of satisfaction for sin; for which reason Paul says, “Ye are bought with a price.”1365 Nor would there be any truth in his other assertion, that “there is one Mediator, who gave himself a ransom,”1366 unless the punishment due to our demerits had been transferred to him. Therefore the same apostle defines “redemption through his blood” to be “the forgiveness of sins;”1367 as though he had said, We are justified or acquitted before God, because that blood is a complete satisfaction for us. This is consonant with the following passage, that “he blotted out the hand-writing, which was contrary to us, nailing it to his cross.”1368 For these words signify the payment or compensation which absolves us from guilt. There is great weight also in these words of Paul: “If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”1369 For hence we conclude, that we must seek from Christ what the law would confer upon any one who fulfilled it; or, which is the same, that we obtain by the grace of Christ what God promised in the law to our works; “which” commandments “if a man do, he shall live in them.”1370 This the apostle confirms with equal perspicuity in his sermon at Antioch, asserting [pg 481] that “by Christ all that believe are justified from all things, from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses.”1371 For if righteousness consist in an observance of the law, who can deny that Christ merited favour for us, when, by bearing this burden himself, he reconciles us to God, just as though we were complete observers of the law ourselves? The same idea is conveyed in what he afterwards writes to the Galatians, that “God sent forth his Son, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law.”1372 For what was the design of that subjection to the law, but to procure a righteousness for us, by undertaking to perform that which we were not able to do? Hence that imputation of righteousness without works, of which Paul treats;1373 because that righteousness which is found in Christ alone is accepted as ours. Nor indeed is the “flesh” of Christ called our “food”1374 for any other reason but because we find in it the substance of life. Now, this virtue proceeds solely from the crucifixion of the Son of God, as the price of our righteousness. Thus Paul says, “Christ hath given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.”1375 And in another place, “He was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.”1376 Hence it is inferred, not only that salvation is given us through Christ, but that the Father is now propitious to us for his sake. For it cannot be doubted, but this, which God declares in a figurative way by Isaiah, is perfectly fulfilled in him: “I will” do it “for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.”1377 Of this the apostle is a sufficient witness, when he says, “Your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.”1378 For although the name of Christ is not expressed, yet John, in his usual manner, designates him by the pronoun αὐτος, he. In this sense the Lord declares, “As I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.”1379 With which corresponds the following declaration of Paul: “Unto you it is given for the love of Christ (ὑπερ Χριστου) not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.”1380

VI. But the inquiry made by Lombard and the schoolmen, whether Christ merited for himself, discovers as much foolish curiosity, as the assertion does presumption when they affirm it. For what necessity was there for the only begotten Son of God to descend, in order to make any new acquisition for himself? And God by the publication of his own counsel removes every doubt. For it is said, not that the Father consulted [pg 482] the benefit of the Son in his merits, but that he “delivered him to death, and spared him not,”1381 “because he loved the world.”1382 And the language of the prophets is worthy of observation: “Unto us a Child is born.”1383 Again: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; behold, thy King cometh unto thee.”1384 There would otherwise be no force in that confirmation of his love, which Paul celebrates, that he “died for us, while we were enemies.”1385 For we infer from this, that he had no regard to himself; and this he clearly affirms himself, when he says, “For their sakes I sanctify myself.”1386 For by transferring the benefit of his sanctity to others, he declares that he makes no acquisition for himself. And it is highly worthy of our observation, that in order to devote himself wholly to our salvation, Christ in a manner forgot himself. To support this notion of theirs, the schoolmen preposterously pervert the following passage of Paul: “Wherefore also God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name.”1387 For, considered as a man, by what merits could he obtain such dignity as to be the Judge of the world and the Head of angels, to enjoy the supreme dominion of God, and to be the residence of that majesty, the thousandth part of which can never be approached by all the abilities of men and of angels? But the solution is easy and complete, that Paul, in that passage, is not treating of the cause of the exaltation of Christ, but only showing the consequence of it, that he might be an example to us; nor did he mean any other than what is declared in another place, that “Christ ought to have suffered, and to enter into his glory.”1388