Jonathan Edwards · 267 of 409

PART II. Observations concerning the Mysteries of Scripture · Part 4

§ 35. The work of salvation is often spoken of as peculiar to God. It is said, the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord, Psal. xxxvii. 39. and that salvation belongeth unto the Lord, Psal. iii. 8. Jonah ii. 9. God’s people acknowledge him to be the God of their salvation, Psal. xxv. 5. xxvii. 1. and Isa. xii. 2. Saving effectually is spoken of as his prerogative, Jer. xvii. 14. “Heal me, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.” Psal. lxviii. 20. “He that is our God, is the God of salvation, and to the Lord our God belong the issues from death.”

Salvation is spoken of as being of God, in opposition to men, and to all creature helps, Jer. iii. 23. “Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.” Psal. lx. 11. “Give us help from trouble, for vain is the help (Heb. salvation) of man.” Ver. 16. “I Jehovah am thy Saviour.” Psal. cxlvi. 3, 5. “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom is no help (or salvation). Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.” Salvation in or by any other is denied, Isa. lix. 16. “And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor. Therefore, his arm brought salvation unto him, and his righteousness it sustained him.”

It is spoken of as his prerogative to he the rock of salvation, to be trusted in by men. “Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.” See Psal. xcv 1. lxii. 2. “He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence.” Ver. 5-9. “My soul, wait thou on God alone, for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust in him at all times; pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.”

It is said, that there is no other Saviour besides the one only Jehovah; Isa. xliii. 3. “I am Jehovah thy God, the Saviour of Israel;” xliii. 11. “I, even I, am Jehovah, and besides me there is no Saviour.” See Isa. xlvii. 4. liv. 5. and xlv. 15. “O God of Israel, the Saviour.” Ver. 21,. to the end; “I am Jehovah, and there is no God else besides me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else.” Here observe, that this is given as a reason why all nations in the world should look to him only for salvation, that he only was God; taking it for granted, and as an universally established point, that none but God could be a Saviour. And here salvation is claimed as the prerogative of the one only God, and therefore exclusively of a secondary and subordinate god. It follows, “I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear. Surely shall one say, In Jehovah have I righteousness and strength. Even to him shall men come, and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory. ” Hosea xiii. 4. “Yet I am Jehovah, thy God from the land of Egypt: and thou shalt know no God but me; for there is no Saviour besides me.”

God is so completely the only Saviour of his people, that others are not admitted to partake of this honour, as mediate and subordinate saviours: Hos. i. 7. And therefore, the heavenly hosts, in giving praise to God, ascribe salvation to him, as his peculiar and distinguishing glory; Rev. xix. 1. “I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God.”

§ 36. But nothing is more evident, by the express and abundant doctrine of Scripture, than that Jesus Christ is most eminently and peculiarly the Saviour of God’s people, and the Saviour of the world. In John iv. 42. his very name is Jesus, Saviour. He is spoken of as the Author of eternal salvation, Heb. v. 9. And the Captain of the salvation of his people, Heb. ii. 10. a Prince and a Saviour. He is called Zion’s salvation, Isa. lxii. 11. “Behold, thy salvation cometh.” He is spoken of, as saving by his own strength, and able to save to the uttermost; one mighty to save, and therein distinguished from all others; as in Isa. lxiii. 1. “I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” Ver. 5. “I looked and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold. Therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me, and my fury it upheld me.” What is said in this place, is meant of Christ, as is manifest by comparing ver. 3. with Rev. xix. 15. And the very same things that are said of Jehovah, the only God, as the only Saviour in whom men shall trust for salvation, as in xlv. 21, to the end,. are from time to time applied to Christ in the New Testament. And it is expressly said, Acts iv. 12. “There is salvation in no other, neither is there any other name given under heaven amongst men, whereby we must be saved.” And the heavenly hosts, in their praises, ascribe salvation to Christ in like manner as to God the Father, Rev. vii. 10. “Salvation to our God, which sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb.” See also chap. v. Christ is a rock sufficiently sure, and perfectly to be trusted, Isa. xxviii. 16, 17. 1 Cor. x. 4.

§ 37. The redemption from Egypt, and bringing the children of Israel through the wilderness to the possession of Canaan, is often spoken of as a great salvation, which was most evidently the peculiar work of the one only Jehovah, greatly manifesting his distinguished power and majesty. 2 Sam. vii. 22, 23. “Wherefore thou art great, O Lord God, for there is none like thee; according to all that we have heard with our ears;” meaning what they had heard of his great fame, or the name he had obtained by his wonderful works, in bringing them out of Egypt, &c. as appears by what follows; 2 Sam. vii. 23. “And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you great things, and terrible for thy land, before thy people which thou redeemedst to thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods?” The same work is mentioned as an evidence, that the doer of it is Jehovah, and that there is none like unto him, and as that which makes known God’s name through the earth;. Exod. viii. 10, 22. ix. 14, 16. and x. 2. See also chap. xv. 6-11. xviii. 11. and xxxiv. 10. Deut. iii. 24.

§ 38. But it was Jesus Christ that wrought that salvation: Isa. lxiii. 9, 10. “The angel of his presence saved them: in his love and pity he redeemed them, and he bore them, and earned them all the days of old. But they rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit.” This rebelling and vexing of his Holy Spirit is evidently the same thing with that spoken of, Psal. xcv. 8, 9, 10. “As in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness, when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works. Forty years long was I grieved with that generation.” But it is evident that he whom they tempted, provoked, and grieved, was that God whose great works they saw, and therefore was that God who wrought those wonderful works in Egypt and the wilderness: as is evident by the same, ver. 3. where he is called “Jehovah, a great God, and a great King above all gods.” And it is equally clear by that passage in Isa. lxiii. just quoted, that it was the angel of God’s presence, and by 1 Cor. x. 9. “Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted.”

And as it is said, Isa. lxiii. that the angel of God’s presence saved them, &c. so it is plain by Exod. xxiii. 20-33. that God’s angel, a different person from him who acts as first in the affairs of the Deity, brought them into Canaan, &c. And it is plain, that the person that appeared in the bush, who said his name was Jehovah, and I am that I am, was the angel of Jehovah: Exod. iii. 2, 14. vi. 3. and Acts vii. 30. And nothing is more evident, by the whole history, than that the same person brought them out of Egypt: and also, that it was the same angel which appeared and delivered the ten commandments at mount Sinai, conversed there with Moses, and manifested himself from time to time to the congregation in the wilderness. Acts vii. 38. “This is he that was in the church in the wilderness, with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sinai, and with our fathers; who received the lively oracles to give unto us.” That angel doubtless was the same that is called the angel of the covenant; Mal. iii. 1. “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come into his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in. Behold he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts:” and this messenger without doubt was Christ. It is plain by Heb. xii. 25, 26, 27. that he who spake at mount Sinai was Christ: “See that ye refuse not him that speaketh, ” &c.

§ 39. Thus we see, that however the work of salvation be so often spoken of as peculiar to God; yet this salvation out of Egypt, so much celebrated in Scripture, is not peculiar to God the Father; but that the Son wrought this work as well as the Father. And it is true, that the Scriptures abundantly speak of an infinitely greater and more glorious salvation than that out of Egypt; viz. the salvation of men from sin, Satan, eternal death and ruin, and bringing them to the heavenly Canaan, to eternal life and happiness there. This is spoken of as a far greater work than the other. So that, in comparison of it, it is not worthy to be remembered or mentioned. Jer. xvi. 14,15. “It shall no more be said, The Lord liveth,” &c. see also chap. xxiii. 6-8. Isa. xliii. 18-21. “Remember ye not the former things,” &c. But I need not stop to show the reader how this great salvation is in Scripture ascribed in a peculiar manner to Christ as the author.

§ 40. We read in Scripture of two creations: the first, that which Moses gives an account of in the first chapter of Genesis; the other, a spiritual creation, consisted in restoring the moral world, bringing it to its highest perfection, and establishing it in its eternal felicity and glory; and the latter is spoken of as most incomparably the greatest work; Isa. lxv. 17, 18. and lxvi. 22. Now, as creation is so much spoken of as a most peculiar work of the supreme God, one may well determine, that if the first creation be not so, yet the second is, which is so much greater, and evidently the greatest of all God’s works.

But this new creation, which is the same with the work of redemption, is, in the most especial manner, spoken of as the work of Jesus: for he is ever mentioned as the great Redeemer and restorer. This work is committed to him: for this he has a full commission. It is left in his hands; all things are committed to him; all power in heaven and in earth is given him, that he may accomplish this work, and bring it to its most absolute perfection. To this end are subjected to him, thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers, and he is made head over all things; and to this end, the world to come, that is, all the affairs of that new creation, are put in subjection unto him: and he, with regard to all the transactions belonging to this new creation, that are written in the book of God, is the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last. Christ built the house; he built all things, especially in this new creation; and therefore is God. These things are plainly asserted in Heb. iii. 3, 4. “For this man (rather this person) was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house. For every house is builded by some man: but he that built all things is God.” Thus, the work of redemption, which is both the greatest work of salvation, and the greatest work of creation, (the two kinds of works chiefly spoken of in Scripture as divine,) is accomplished by the Son of God.

§41. The giving of spiritual and saving light is one chief part of the new creation, as creating the light was a chief part of the old creation. The causing of this spiritual light is spoken of as the peculiar work of God. 2 Cor. iv. 6. “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,” &c. But the giving of this light is especially ascribed to Christ, as the author and fountain of it. He is called the Light of the world; the Light of life; the true Light, that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He is the Sun of righteousness. No man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him, &c.

§ 42. So calling men into Christ’s fellowship and kingdom, is also ascribed to God. Rom. viii. 30. “Whom he did predestinate, them he also called.” Acts ii. 39. “As many as the Lord our God shall call.” 1 Cor. i. 9. “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” 1 Thess. ii. 12. “That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.” 2 Thess. ii. 13,14. “God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation; whereunto he called you by our gospel.” 2 Tim. i. 9. “According to the power of God, who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace.” 1 Pet. v. 10. “The God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory.”

But this is ascribed to Jesus Christ. Rom. i. 6. “Among whom also ye are the called of Jesus Christ.” 1 Cor. vii. 17. “As the Lord hath called every one.” John x. 3. “And he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.” Verse 16. “Other sheep have I, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring in; and they shall hear my voice.” Eph. i. 18. “That ye may know what is the hope of his calling.”

§ 43. Regeneration, or the changing and renewing of the heart, is spoken of as the peculiar work of God. John i. 13. “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” James i. 18. “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.”

It is likewise ascribed to Christ. Saints are born of him in their spiritual generation, and therefore are called his seed; Gal. iii. 29. It is Christ that baptizes men with the Holy Ghost, which is called the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, and a being born of water and of the Spirit. Christ sanctifies and cleanses the souls of men, by the washing of water, by the word; Eph. v. 26.

§ 44. Justification, washing from sin, delivering from guilt, forgiving sin, admitting to favour and to the glorious benefits of righteousness in the sight of God, are often spoken of as belonging peculiarly to God. Rom. iii. 26. “That he might be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.” Verse 30. “Seeing it is one God that justifieth,” &c. Chap. viii. 30. “Whom he called, he also justified.” Verse 33. “It is God that justifieth.” Isa. xliii. 25. “I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake.” Psalm li. 2-4. “Wash me throughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin: against thee, thee only, have I sinned.” Therefore the Jews said, Luke v. 21. “Who can forgive sins but God only?”

But Christ hath power to forgive sin, as it follows in the last-mentioned place; verse 24. “But that ye may know, that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins,”. &c. He washes us from our sins in his own blood; Rev. i. 5. And he justifies those that know and believe in him; Isa. liii. 11.

§ 45. Overcoming Satan, and delivering men from him, and giving his people victory over him, are spoken of as the peculiar works of God’s glorious power. Isa. xxvii. “In that day, Jehovah, with his great and strong sword, shall punish Leviathan the piercing serpent, even Leviathan, that crooked serpent; he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.” Psalm viii. 1, 2. “O Jehovah, our God, how excellent is thy name in all the earth, who hast set thy glory above the heavens! Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength, because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.”

But it is the special work of Christ to bruise the serpent’s head; to destroy the works of the devil; and that by his own strength. For he is represented as conquering him, because he is stronger than the strong man armed, and so overcoming him and taking from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and spoiling his goods. It is he that has spoiled principalities and powers, and made a show of them openly, triumphing over them. He is the spiritual Samson, that has rent the roaring lion as lie would have rent a kid; and the spiritual David, that has delivered the lamb out of his mouth, and has slain that great Goliath. He is that Michael who fights with the dragon and casts him out; and at last will judge Satan, and will utterly destroy him; and will inflict those everlasting torments on him spoken of in Rev. xx. 10. In the apprehension of which he now trembles, and trembled for fear that Christ would inflict those torments on him, when he cried out and fell down before him, saying, “Art thou come to torment me before the time?” and, “I beseech thee, torment me not.”

§ 46. Should any imagine that those parts of the work of redemption, which are initial, and are wrought in this world, being more imperfect, may be wrought by the Son of God; but that the more glorious perfection of it, which is brought to pass in heaven, is peculiar to God the Father: in opposition to this, it may be observed, it belongs to Christ to take care of the souls of his saints after death; to receive them to the heavenly state; and to give them possession of heaven. Therefore the Scriptures represent, that he redeems his saints to God, and makes them kings and priests. He has the key of David, the key of the palace, and the keys of hades, or the separate state, and of death; and opens, and no man shuts; and shuts, and no man opens. He is gone to heaven as the forerunner of the saints. He has, in their name, taken possession of that inheritance which he has purchased for them, that he may put them in possession of it in due time. He is gone to prepare a place for them, that he may come and take them to himself, that where he is, there they may be also; and make them sit with him in his throne. And therefore Stephen, when dying, commended his spirit into Christ’s hands.

Or, if any shall say, that the far more glorious salvation which shall be effected at the end of the world; when all things shall be brought to their highest consummation, shall be the peculiar work of God the Father; I answer, It is abundantly manifest from Scripture, that the consummation of all things shall be by Christ. He shall raise the dead by his voice, as one that has power and life in himself. He shall raise up the bodies of his saints in their glorious resurrection, making their bodies like to his glorious body; John v. 25, 29. and vi. 39, 40. He, as the universal and final Judge, shall fully put all things to rights, and bring every thing to its last and most perfect state. He shall bestow that great gift of eternal life, in both soul and body, on the whole church, and every individual member in a state of most consummate glory, which is the thing aimed at in all the preceding steps of the great affair of redemption. He shall present his church to himself and to his Father a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; all in a perfect purity, beauty, and glory: and the glory which God hath given him he will give them, in the most perfect manner, that they may reign with him for ever and ever. And thus, he will cause the New Jerusalem to appear in its brightest glory, as a bride adorned for her husband; and will perfect the new creation, and cause the new heavens and new earth to shine forth in their consummate and eternal beauty and brightness; when God shall proclaim, It is done; I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last. Christ is represented as being himself the light and glory that enlightens the New Jerusalem, that fills with brightness and glory the church of God, in its last, consummate, and eternal glory; Rev. xxi. 23.

§ 47. Concerning the name jehovah, see Neh. ix. 6. “Thou art Jehovah alone; thou hast made heaven and earth; the heaven of heavens, with all their host; the earth,” &c. Deut. vi. 4. “Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God is one Jehovah.” 2 Sam. xxii. 32. “Who is God, save Jehovah? who is a rock, save our God?” So Psal. xviii. 31. 1 Kings xviii. 39. ”Jehovah, he is the God; Jehovah, he is the God.” When God proclaimed his name in mount Sinai, Exod. xxxiv. 5, 6. “He passed by and proclaimed, Jehovah, Jehovah.” Jer. x. 10. ”Jehovah is the true God; he is the living God, and an everlasting King.” Exod. xv. 11. “Who is like unto thee, O Jehovah?” 1 Chron. xvii. 20. “O Jehovah, there is none like unto thee.” Psal. lxxxvi. 8. It might well be expected, that, in that abundant revelation which God has made of himself, he would make himself known by some one name at least, which should be expressly delivered as the peculiar and distinguishing name of the Most High. And we find it to be so: God has, with great solemnity, declared a certain name as his most peculiar name; which he has expressly and very often spoken of as a name that belongs to him in a most distinguishing manner, and belongs to the Supreme Being only; and hath expressly asserted that it belongs to no other. But, notwithstanding all this, the Arians, to serve their particular purpose, reject this name, as not being the distinguishing name of the supreme God.

§ 48. King of kings and Lord of lords, are titles peculiar to the Supreme Being. Deut. x. 17. “For the Lord your God is God of gods, and the Lord of lords.” Psal. cxxxvi. 3. “O give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his mercy endureth for ever.” Dan. ii. 47. “Of a truth it is that your God is a God of gods, and Lord of kings.” 1 Tim. vi. 14, 15, 16. “Until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which in his times he shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen, nor can see; to whom be honour and power everlasting, Amen.” Rev. xix. 11-16. ” He whose name is called the Word of God, hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, king of kings, and lord of lords.”

§49. Christ’s eternity is abundantly asserted. Psal. cii. 24-27. “Of old hast thou laid the foundations of the earth; and the heavens are the work of thy hands: but thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.” Rom. i. 23. “The incorruptible God.” 1 Tim. vi. 16. “The King eternal, immortal.” Rev. iv. 9, 10. v. 14. x. 5, 6. and xv. 7.. Heb. vii. 3. “Having neither beginning of days, nor end of life.”

§ 50. There must be a vast difference, not only in the degree, but in the kind, of respect and worship due to the supreme God as well as in other things; since there is so infinite a difference between this Being and all others. There is a great difference as to the kind of respect proper for a wife to render to her husband, and that which it is proper for her to render towards other men. So it is with regard to the respect due to God; otherwise there would not be a foundation for that jealousy, which God exercises on occasion of his professing people worshipping other beings.

In addition to what has been observed of the works and worship of God, the following savings of Christ are worthy to be observed. John v. 17. “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” Ver. 19. ” What things soever the Father doth, these also doth the Son likewise.” Ver. 23. “That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father.” It is plain, God is jealous in that respect, that no other being may share with him in honour, that he alone may be exalted. It is expected that other beings should humble themselves, should be brought low, should deny themselves for God, and esteem themselves as nothing before him. And as he requires that they should abase themselves, he would not set up others to exalt them to a rivalship with himself. If men may pray to Christ, may adore him, give themselves up to him, trust in him, praise him, and serve him; what kind of worship is due to the Father, entirely distinct from all this in nature and kind?

When Satan tempted Christ to fall down and worship him, as one that had power to dispose of the kingdoms of this world, and the glory of them; Christ replies, “It is written, Thou shall worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. ” But the Arians must suppose, that we are required to worship and serve some other being than this Lord God which Christ speaks of, as the disposer not only of the kingdoms of this world, but of the kingdom of heaven and the glory thereof. On the supposition of Christ’s being merely a creature, he would much more properly be ranked with creatures exclusively, and never with God (as being called by his name and titles, having ascribed to him his attributes, dominions, &c.). However great a creature he might be, he would be infinitely below God.

§ 51. Concerning the grand objection from that text, “Of that day and hour knoweth no man, nor the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father:” I would observe, that even the Arians themselves, with regard to some things said of Christ, must make the distinction between his power or knowledge, as to his inferior and superior nature; or, if they do not allow two natures, then, at least, as to his humbled state, and his state both before and after his humiliation: as Mark vii. 24. “And would have no man know it, but he could not be hid.” This cannot mean that the person who created the whole world, visible and invisible, &c. and by whom all things consist and are governed, had not power to order things so, that he might be hid.

§ 52. It is observable, that Christ is frequently called God absolutely, Greek and Greek; by which name even the heathens themselves always understood the supreme God. Dr. Cudworth, in his “Intellectual System,” abundantly shows, that the heathens generally worshipped but one supreme, eternal, universal, uncreated Deity; but that their best philosophers maintained, that this Deity subsisted in three hypostases: though they had many created gods. And in page 627, he says, “It now appears, from what we have declared, that as to the ancient and genuine Platonists and Pythagoreans, none of their trinity of gods, or divine hypostases, were independent; so, neither were they creature-gods, but uncreated, they being all of them not only eternal, and necessarily existent and immutable, but also universal, i. e. infinite and omnipotent causes, principles, and creators of the whole world. From whence it follows, that these Platonists could not justly be taxed with idolatry, in giving religious worship to each hypostasis of their trinity. And one grand design of Christianity being to abolish the pagan idolatry or creature worship, it cannot justly be charged therewith, from that religious worship given to our Saviour Christ and the Holy Ghost, they being none of them, according to the true and orthodox Christianity, creatures, however the Arian hypothesis made them such. And this was indeed the grand reason why the ancient fathers so zealously opposed Arianism. We shall cite a remarkable passage out of Athanasius, fourth oration against the Arians, to this purpose, as follows: