Johannes Marck’s Marrow of Christian Theology, Didactic-Elenctic XX
James Dodson
Chapter XX
Of the Office of Jesus Christ
I. The office of Christ as Mediator signifies at once burden, John 10:18, “this commandment have I received of my Father,” etc.; and supreme honor, Eph. 1:22, “he gave him to be the head over all things to the Church.” Heb. 5:4, 5, “no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron; so also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest.”
II. And the same office is threefold with respect to its chief functions: prophetic, Deut. 18:15, 18, “I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren,” etc.; Luke 24:19, “he was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people”; priestly, Ps. 110:4, “Thou art a priest forever.” Heb. 5:5, οὐχ ἑαυτὸν ἐδόξασε γενηθῆναι ἀρχιερέα [he glorified not himself to be made an high priest]; and kingly, Ps. 2:6, “I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.” Matt. 2:2, “Where is he that is born king of the Jews?” These offices are also sometimes joined, Ps. 110:2, 3, 4,
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“Jehovah shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies,” etc.; “Jehovah hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever,” etc. Heb. 1:1, 2, 3, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things,” etc.; “when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high,” etc. And these are required because of our threefold misery—ignorance, guilt, and servitude—and because of the threefold necessary work: salvation to be announced, acquired, and applied.
III. These offices must not be confused, as the Socinians do, leaving scarcely anything truly to Christ besides the prophetic office; but neither should they be separated, since they plainly concur in one Christ to the same end of the salvation of the elect, coll. 1 Cor. 1:30, “who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption,” etc. To this not badly refers the “counsel of peace between those two,” namely the ruler sitting upon his throne and the priest, Zech. 6:13.
IV. Scarcely ever has this threefold office concurred in anyone besides Christ, though Melchizedek held kingdom and priesthood; David, kingdom and prophecy; and the high priests, priesthood and prophecy. Indeed, though some extraordinary act of priesthood has sometimes concurred with kingdom and prophecy, or even with some lesser dominion and other offices.
V. The three offices can be ordered in various ways. Naturally, the others are founded in the priesthood. Yet,
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with respect to the complement of public administration, the prophetic office is first explained, then the priestly, and finally the kingly.
VI. Christ here is called Prophet, נביא [prophet], or Seer, because of his infallible doctrine. As from this he is called “Counsellor,” Isa. 9:6; “Angel,” “Interpreter,” Job 33:23, etc.; and perhaps also “Pastor,” Ezek. 34:23; so he is called not only prophet, but also “a prophet like Moses,” Deut. 18:15, 18, in origin, namely, from the brethren; in miraculous excellence of words and deeds; in faithful preaching of the words of God; and finally in the necessary subjection of Israel; although in other respects Christ is superior to Moses, Heb. 3:3, 5, καθ’ ὅσον πλείονα τιμὴν ἔχει τοῦ οἴκου ὁ κατασκευάσας αὐτόν [inasmuch as he who built the house hath more honor than the house], etc.; καὶ Μωσῆς μὲν πιστὸς ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ οἴκῳ αὐτοῦ, ὡς θεράπων [and Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant], etc.
VII. In this office are supposed supreme power, for bending hearts and performing miracles; and infallible and divine wisdom for declaring mysteries. To acquire this the Socinians most vainly imagine that Christ was taken up into heaven at the time of the forty days’ fast; which Scripture never records, indeed refutes, when it teaches that Christ ascended once after his passion, Eph. 4:9, 10, “Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended,” etc.; and Mark narrates that at the time of the fast in the wilderness he then remained there, Mark 1:13, “and he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts.”
Objection 1. Christ is said to have descended, John 3:13.
Reply In the incarnation, through his
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manifestation on earth.
Objection 2. His past ascension is mentioned while he was on earth, John 3:13.
Reply Either by enallage of time, or improperly to be understood of his intimate knowledge of heavenly things.
Objection 3. The example of Moses and Paul.
Reply They, as bare men, are unequal to Christ; and Moses only ascended into the mountain.
VIII. The act of Christ’s prophetic office is twofold: prediction and its confirmation. He preaches, moreover, both the law, Acts 7:38, “when the angel spake to him in Mount Sinai”; Matt. 5:20, 48, “I say unto you, except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees,” etc.; under the Old and New Testament the same; and especially the Gospel, Isa. 61:1, 2, “Jehovah hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek,” etc.; John 1:17, “grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” Heb. 2:3, “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord?” etc.; and also future things, of the world, the Church, and of himself.
IX. Christ always teaches, and has always taught, with authority, boldness, zeal, prudence, wisdom, eloquence, and especially with internal power upon the soul, Acts 16:14, “whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken by Paul.” Eph. 1:19, “what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,” etc. And the preaching of Christ is either mediate, through ordinary and extraordinary ministers, or mostly immediate in the days of his flesh. He still teaches
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internally the elect alone, but externally also many reprobate.
X. The confirmation of his doctrine was made by death, Rev. 1:5, ὁ μάρτυς ὁ πιστός [the faithful witness]; and by his blameless life, John 8:46, τίς ἐξ ὑμῶν ἐλέγχει με περὶ ἁμαρτίας; [which of you convinceth me of sin?], etc.; but chiefly by miracles, greatest and very many, which he publicly and by his own power performed, Matt. 11:4, 5, “Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them.” John 7:31, “when Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done?” John 9:32, ἐκ τοῦ αἰῶνος οὐκ ἠκούσθη ὅτι ἤνοιξέ τις ὀφθαλμοὺς τυφλοῦ γεγεννημένου [since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one born blind], etc.; not only immediately, but also formerly through the prophets, and under the New Testament through the apostles, John 14:12, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works which I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do.” Mark 16:17, “and these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents.” Acts 9:34, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole; arise,” etc.
XI. Christ performed miracles immediately especially during his public ministry, not after the resurrection or in childhood, coll. John 2:11, “this beginning of signs did Jesus in Cana of Galilee,” etc. He sometimes also willed them to be for the proper time, to decline the immature conspiracies of the Jews and to fulfill the prophecies, Isa. 42:1, 2, “he shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street,” etc. And here it must be noted that miracles alone do not avail to prove truth, Deut. 13:1, 2, “if there arise among
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thee a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder; and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods,” etc.; “thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet,” etc. 2 Thess. 2:9, “whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,” etc. Nor are they even today necessary, since our apostolic and prophetic doctrine was long ago sufficiently confirmed by very many miracles. So we willingly concede the Papists to boast as much as they please in support of their superstition by miracles.
XII. Christ always exercised the prophetic office, even under the Old Testament, 1 Pet. 3:19, τοῖς πνεύμασιν ἐν φυλακῇ πνεύμασι πορευθεὶς ἐκήρυξε [he went and preached unto the spirits in prison], etc.; and it must be left to Christ alone in his ἐξουσίᾳ [authority], Matt. 11:26, “no man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him”; Matt. 23:8, 10, ὑμεῖς δὲ μὴ κληθῆτε ῥαββί· εἷς γάρ ἐστιν ὑμῶν ὁ καθηγητής, ὁ Χριστός [but be not ye called Rabbi; for one is your Master, even Christ], etc.; although individual believers and ministers ought to serve him in this. To him belongs the infallible and supreme interpretation of Scripture in the Church.
XIII. Priest, in Hebrew כהן [priest], a name sometimes extended also to political ministers, 2 Sam. 8:18, “and the sons of David were כהנים [priests; chief rulers],” is further said of Christ, Zech. 6:16, “and he shall be a priest upon his throne.” Heb. 8:4, “if he were on earth, he should not be a priest,” etc.; indeed, “great priest” and “high priest,” even according to the order of Melchizedek, Ps. 110:4; Heb. 5:6, 10, to whom Christ is compared before the Aaronic priests.
XIV. Many have erred much in the person of Melchizedek,
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who denied him to have been a man; whereas Moses describes him as a true man, nor could he otherwise have discharged the priesthood, coll. Heb. 5:1, “every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God,” etc.
Objection 1. He is called king of righteousness and peace, Heb. 7:2.
Reply Thus the proper name of the king and kingdom is explained only appellatively.
Objection 2. He is denied parents, genealogy, and beginning of life, Heb. 7:3.
Reply This must be understood restrictedly of the silence of Moses, or perhaps of the priestly order, and in a fuller sense these things are true in the antitype.
Objection 3. He is likened to the Son of God.
Reply Not in nature, but in office, and in other things enumerated by Paul, in which, as a type, he shadowed forth the Son of God.
They also err who think Melchizedek was Christ himself, since the type must be distinguished from the antitype, and the exercise of a bodily priesthood does not agree with Christ.
Objection 1. He blessed Abraham, Gen. 14:19.
Reply Not by conferring good things, but by praying for them.
Objection 2. Eternity, and other attributes, belong to no one except Christ.
Reply Not indeed in the fullest sense, but in a lighter sense that agrees with a type.
Objection 3. He is likened to the Son.
Reply Not in all things, and by this very thing he is distinguished from the Son himself. They err further who hold Enoch, or Ham, or especially Shem, to be Melchizedek; since his genealogy, life, and death would not then be unknown; nor would he have had his seat in Canaan; nor would Abraham have been a stranger there. Finally, they err who make him a man immediately created by God; besides, and contrary to Scripture, Acts 17:26, “he hath made of one blood every nation of
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men,” etc. Nor can anything more truly be said than that he was a king and priest in Salem among the Canaanites, by the name Melchizedek, a pious man among the impious, whose remaining history is almost entirely unknown, and not without mystery.
XV. He was priest, with respect to which he “blessed” and “received tithes,” and at the same time king; whence he liberally brought forth bread and wine for Abraham himself and his servants. The Pontificians ineptly refer this to priesthood, and understand an oblation made to God, that thence they may extract a type of the sacrifice of the Mass. As though the Melchizedekian priesthood differed no otherwise from the Aaronic than in the matter of oblation.
XVI. According to Paul, Heb. 7, the order of Melchizedek embraces the agreement of name and person with respect to origin and whole life; of kingdom, and indeed of peace; finally, of most excellent and eternal priesthood, which is joined with the kingdom.
XVII. The true priesthood of Christ required both the infinite dignity of the person and unstained holiness, Heb. 7:26, 27, “such an High Priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,” etc.; ὃς οὐκ ἔχει καθ’ ἡμέραν ἀνάγκην, ὥσπερ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς, πρότερον ὑπὲρ τῶν ἰδίων ἁμαρτιῶν θυσίας ἀναφέρειν [who needeth not daily, as those high priests, first to offer up sacrifice for his own sins]. Nor was this required only personally, but also he had fully to obey the law in our place, which is usually called active righteousness; which is taught by Jer. 23:6, “Jehovah our righteousness”; Rom. 5:18, 19, ἄρα οὖν ὡς δι’ ἑνὸς δικαιώματος εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους εἰς δικαίωσιν ζωῆς· ὥσπερ γὰρ διὰ τῆς ὑπακοῆς τοῦ ἑνὸς δικαίοι κατασταθήσονται οἱ πολλοί [therefore, as by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life; for as by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous]. 2 Cor. 5:21, “that we might be made the righteousness of God in him,” etc.; and the debt of fulfilling the law, incumbent upon us besides the penalty,
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which we were not able to pay, Rom. 8:3, 4, τὸ γὰρ ἀδύνατον τοῦ νόμου, ἐν ᾧ ἠσθένει διὰ τῆς σαρκὸς, ὁ Θεὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ υἱὸν πέμψας [for what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son], etc.; ἵνα τὸ δικαίωμα τοῦ νόμου πληρωθῇ ἐν ἡμῖν [that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us], etc. Others determine differently: not only the Justiciaries, but also a few others. They object:
Objection 1. Our salvation is ascribed to the death and passion of Christ.
Reply The passion is not to be separated from obedience, contrary to Phil. 2:8, γενόμενος ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανάτου [being made obedient unto death], etc.; but synecdochically the one is comprehended in the other.
Objection 2. Christ owed this obedience for himself.
Reply Christ came into this state of owing for our sake; and he owed it for himself and in our name, as Adam did.
Objection 3. We remain bound to our own obedience.
Reply Yet not to that full obedience by which we are justified.
XVIII. The chief acts of the priesthood are oblation and intercession, of which a certain species is benediction. The Socinians, most improperly, want intercession to be understood almost alone; and they entirely deny oblation as distinct from it, beginning the priesthood from the ascension. Yet since priesthood requires oblation, Heb. 5:1, “every priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God,” ἵνα προσφέρῃ δῶρά τε καὶ θυσίας ὑπὲρ ἁμαρτιῶν [that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins], etc.; and oblation is attributed to Christ on earth, Eph. 5:2, παρέδωκεν ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν προσφορὰν καὶ θυσίαν τῷ Θεῷ εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας [he gave himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor]. Heb. 1:3, δι’ ἑαυτοῦ καθαρισμὸν ποιησάμενος τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν ἐκάθισεν [when he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down], etc. Heb. 10:10, ἐν ᾧ θελήματι ἡγιασμένοι ἐσμὲν διὰ τῆς προσφορᾶς τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐφάπαξ [by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all], etc.
Objection 1. The high-priesthood is referred to the glorification of the Father, Heb. 5:5, 6.
Reply This office was altogether most glorious,
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and bestowed upon him by the Father himself, but not finally after the ascension.
Objection 2. If Christ were on earth, he would not be a priest, Heb. 8:4.
Reply Christ’s priesthood is there plainly implied, to be consummated after the oblation, when he had to enter the heavenly sanctuary himself.
XIX. As in many things the true oblation of Christ differs from all the types, so also in this: that Christ is at once priest according to each nature, victim according to the whole humanity—namely, soul and body—and finally altar according to the deity, which added value to his sufferings. Meanwhile we do not deny that the cross also can be called the altar of Christ, inasmuch as he was especially offered upon it, 1 Pet. 2:24, “who himself bare our sins,” ἀνήνεγκεν ἐν τῷ σώματι αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον [he bare them in his own body on the tree]; and this was the symbol of necessary curse, Gal. 3:13, “he was made a curse for us, for it is written,” ἐπικατάρατος πᾶς ὁ κρεμάμενος ἐπὶ ξύλου [cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree]. Hence, by an excessively extended similitude, you may wrongly infer a greater excellence of the cross than of Christ himself; and by stupendous idolatry the Papists wrongly gather true religious honor for the cross and its image.
XX. This oblation and passion of Christ for us was begun in his very nativity, 2 Cor. 8:6, ὅτι δι’ ὑμᾶς ἐπτώχευσε πλούσιος ὤν [that for your sakes he became poor, though he was rich]; continued
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through his whole life, Isa. 53:2, 3, “he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground; he hath no form nor comeliness,” etc.; “he is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief,” etc.; and completed at the end by the greatest bodily and spiritual evils which he then underwent. And here that foolish distinction between the passions of the last three days, as if these alone were satisfactory for us, and all others only antecedents and consequents, among which bodily death itself is placed, as if these were only convincing, must be altogether rejected. Scripture speaks generally of Christ’s sufferings for us, 1 Pet. 2:21, “Christ also suffered for us.” 1 Pet. 3:18, “Christ also hath once suffered for sins,” etc.; and his stripes, blood, and death are continually mentioned here, 1 Pet. 2:24, τῷ μώλωπι αὐτοῦ ἰάθητε [by whose stripe ye were healed]. Rom. 3:25, ὃν προέθετο ὁ Θεὸς ἱλαστήριον διὰ τῆς πίστεως ἐν τῷ αὐτοῦ αἵματι [whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood]. Rom. 5:10, εἰ γὰρ ἐχθροὶ ὄντες κατηλλάγημεν τῷ Θεῷ διὰ τοῦ θανάτου τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ [for if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son], etc. And since Christ was most innocent, he could suffer nothing except in our name—not even the infernal sorrows themselves, Matt. 26:38, 39, περίλυπός ἐστιν ἡ ψυχή μου ἕως θανάτου [my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death], etc.—and death, which is certainly “the wages of sin,” Rom. 6:23.
Objection 1. Christ is said once to have suffered, to have been offered, and this on the cross, 1 Pet. 3:18; Heb. 7:27.
Reply Respect is had partly to Christ’s continued suffering through his whole life in his first advent, and partly to the complement of the oblation.
Objection 2. “In one day I will remove the iniquity of that land,” Zech. 3:9.
Reply It speaks of absolute expiation.
Objection 3. Christ is remembered to have died “for consummation,” Job 19:30.
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Reply By an enallage of time, on account of its immediately impending moment, coll. 2 Tim. 4:7, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith,” etc.
Objection 4. Christ, before that three-day period, experienced signs of divine favor, Matt. 3:14; Luke 22:42.
Reply The wrath of God against sin does not remove every favor toward the Son; and the wrath which blazed out admits degrees in us.
Objection 5. Death itself, and other evils, still have to be endured by us.
Reply Yet not the curse of these things, nor that by them we should satisfy divine justice. On this foundation also the condemned opinion of the more recent theologian, philosophizing, condemned by the Belgian Synods, ought to be rejected; it seems to exclude the temporal death of Christ, together with all bodily evils, from satisfaction for us, and to regard our death as a punishment partly satisfactory; whereby the doctrine of gratuitous justification is no little weakened.
XXI. The meritorious and impelling cause of this oblation is our sins, for which he thus satisfied divine justice. As this satisfaction was necessary, on account of God’s holiness, justice, and truth, with respect to all threatenings, promises, and types, so it was most truly rendered. For everywhere Christ is said to have suffered for us and for our sins, Rom. 4:25, ὃς παρεδόθη διὰ τὰ παραπτώματα ἡμῶν [who was delivered for our offences]. Rom. 5:6, ἔτι γὰρ Χριστός, ὄντων ἡμῶν ἀσθενῶν, κατὰ καιρὸν ὑπὲρ ἀσεβῶν ἀπέθανε [for when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly]. Rom. 8:32, “who spared not his own Son,” ἀλλ’ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν πάντων παρέδωκεν αὐτόν [but delivered him up for us all]. 2 Cor. 5:15, εἰ εἷς ὑπὲρ πάντων ἀπέθανεν [if one died for all]. To which also is added the preposition ἀντί [instead of; in place of], Matt. 20:28, δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ λύτρον ἀντὶ πολλῶν [to give his soul a ransom for many].
2. And—
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Christ bore our sins, as a victim and an accursed thing, Isa. 53:4–7, “surely he hath borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows; and he was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him,” etc.; “Jehovah made the iniquity of us all to meet upon him,” etc. John 1:29, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” 2 Cor. 5:21, “he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us.” Gal. 3:13, “being made a curse for us,” etc.
3. And he is called our sponsor and Goël, who paid the τιμήν [price], λύτρον [ransom], or ἀντίλυτρον [corresponding ransom], Heb. 7:22, “Jesus was made surety of a better covenant,” ἔγγυος [surety]. 1 Cor. 6:20, ἠγοράσθητε τιμῆς [ye were bought with a price]. Matt. 20:28, “that he might give his soul a λύτρον [ransom] for many.” 1 Tim. 2:6, “who gave himself ἀντίλυτρον ὑπὲρ πάντων [a ransom for all],” etc.
4. Finally, from Christ’s oblation is deduced our fruit of expiation, Heb. 1:3; propitiation, 1 John 2:2; reconciliation, 2 Cor. 5:18, 19; redemption, Gal. 3:13; healing and peace, 1 Pet. 2:24; Isa. 53:5; salvation, Eph. 5:23, etc. These fruits strongly teach the satisfaction rendered.
XXII. The Socinians deny this most Christian foundation of our consolation, yea, they assail it with impious blasphemies; wanting Christ to have suffered only for our good, by confirming doctrine, giving us an example of charity and patience, experiencing evils, and acquiring supreme glory for himself.
Objection 1. The justice of God does not permit such satisfaction, coll. Ezek. 18:4, 20.
Reply It altogether permits it, on account of Christ’s common nature with us, and his power of emerging from death, and his vo-
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luntary sponsorship; and the prophet is treating bare men, and those unwilling, and personal sins; yea, also a special confession of God.
Objection 2. God remits sins to us.
Reply Remission, as to us, does not exclude the satisfaction of the sponsor for us, graciously given to us by God himself, coll. Rom. 3:25.
Objection 3. Scripture mentions other ends of Christ’s passion in the manner just adduced, 1 Tim. 6:13; 1 Pet. 2:21; Heb. 2:17; Luke 24:6.
Reply Lesser principal ends do not exclude the principal end, which is also mentioned in the same places or elsewhere.
Objection 4. From this secure impiety follows.
Reply The contrary follows, if one considers both the greatness of this divine grace, and the rigor of justice in punishing the Son himself, coll. 2 Cor. 5:14, 15, “for the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead; and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again.” Rom. 3:25, “for a demonstration of his righteousness because of the πάρεσιν [passing over] of sins that are past,” etc.
XXIII. Christ did not thus satisfy for angels, nor for all men, but for the elect alone.
1. For this satisfaction is expressly restricted to many, Matt. 20:28, who elsewhere are called Christ’s sheep, John 10:15; his people, Matt. 1:21; the Church, Acts 20:28; the body, Eph. 5:25.
2. Oblation and intercession also are joined, and this latter respects these alone, John 17:9, “I pray for them; I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine,” etc.
3. This oblation flows from the highest love of God, which does not belong to the repro-
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bate, Rom. 8:32, “who spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all.” John 3:16, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son,” etc.
4. And from satisfaction follows all grace and glory, which belong only to the elect, Rom. 5:9, 10, “much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him; for if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” Rom. 8:32, 33, “who spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also graciously give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth,” etc.
5. Finally, from universal satisfaction, as almost innumerable absurdities follow, so man is necessarily constituted the craftsman of his own salvation, rather than God or Christ.
XXIV. The Jesuits, Remonstrants, and others who speak in the universalist phrase state the contrary, and object:
1. Christ is said to have died for all, Rom. 10:18; 2 Cor. 5:15.
Reply From the context are to be understood all who belong to Christ; or else any and all kinds of men are noted, coll. Matt. 4:23, θεραπεύων πᾶσαν νόσον καὶ πᾶσαν μαλακίαν ἐν τῷ λαῷ [healing every disease and every infirmity among the people]. Acts 10:12, τὰ πάντα τὰ τετράποδα τῆς γῆς [all kinds of four-footed beasts of the earth], etc.
2. Christ is often said to have died for the world, and indeed the whole world, in opposition to believers alone, John 1:29; 1 John 2:2.
Reply Either the world indefinitely notes men, in opposition to angels, from which it does not necessarily follow that all men are meant; or it notes the elect dispersed through the whole world, and naturally from the world, in opposition to Jews alone, or teachers, or believers of that time.
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3. That certain redeemed persons perish, John 16:12; 2 Pet. 2:1, 20; Rom. 14:15, etc.
Reply Either these were never truly redeemed, but only in their profession, or with respect to external grace shown to them; or we are only deterred from destroying them, as much as lies in us, by scandals.
4. That it is incumbent upon all to believe Christ died for them.
Reply By no means, except when they repent and flee to Christ.
5. That the merit of Christ is sufficient.
Reply It does not therefore follow that Christ or the Father destined it for all.
6. Otherwise the common proclamation of the Gospel would be illusory.
Reply By no means, since faith and repentance befit all, and are certainly connected with salvation; nor is even the preaching of the Gospel plainly universal.
XXV. Christ altogether satisfied for all the elect, even those who lived under the Old Testament; according to Rom. 3:25, 26, “whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, for a demonstration of his righteousness, because of the passing over of sins previously committed in the forbearance of God,” etc. Heb. 9:15, “for this cause he is mediator of the New Covenant, that, by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” Acts 13:38, 39, “be it known unto you, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses,” etc.; since otherwise they could not have been saved, on account of the impotence of the law, Heb. 9:9, 13, “victims which could not, as pertaining to the conscience, make him that did the service perfect,” etc. Nor is the same thing hard to conceive,
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if indeed Christ existed before the incarnation and undertook the sponsorship, certainly to be rendered in due time.
XXVI. Christ suffered also for all the sins of the elect, Acts 13:38, 39, ἀπὸ πάντων ἀφ’ ὧν οὐκ ἠδυνήθητε ἐν τῷ νόμῳ Μωσέως δικαιωθῆναι, καὶ ἐν τούτῳ πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων δικαιοῦται [from all things from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses, by him every one that believeth is justified], etc. 1 John 1:7, “the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” So here no distinction is to be made with the Papists between mortal and venial sins, sins committed before and after baptism, or even the guilt of fault and of punishment, as each of these is refuted in its own place.
XXVII. The oblation of Christ is equivalent to our sins; so there is no need, with the Remonstrants, to invent some precarious acceptilation, which fights greatly against true satisfaction and the price of Christ’s blood, 1 Cor. 6:20, “ye are bought with a price.” 1 John 1:7, “the blood of Jesus Christ his Son,” etc. Nor is it fitting, with the Papists, to imagine a redundancy from which a great part of the treasury of indulgences is sought. For if Scripture sometimes mentions the abundance of grace, either the greatest sufficiency is thus implied; or respect is had to the grace of the first man; or to the greater sins which are overcome by the grace of God, Rom. 5:15, 20, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἡ χάρις τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ ἡ δωρεὰ ἐν χάριτι τῇ τοῦ ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς τοὺς πολλοὺς ἐπερίσσευσε [much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many], etc.; οὗ δὲ ἐπλεόνασεν ἡ ἁμαρτία, ὑπερεπερίσσευσεν ἡ χάρις [but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound], etc.
XXVIII. The effects of reconciliation and salvation certainly flow from this oblation. Hence the Arminians wrongly deny reconcilability and the right of entering the New Covenant with man; although
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it is the office of man to accept reconciliation with God, which the Spirit certainly works in the elect. The Pontificians also most badly join human satisfactions; contrary to Rom. 8:1, “there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” Luke 17:10, “when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants, for we have done that which was our duty to do,” etc.
Objection 1. Paul mentions the ἀνταναπλήρωσιν [filling up in turn] of the afflictions of Christ, Col. 1:24.
Reply Not of those which Christ had undergone, but of those which he himself was undergoing for the name of Christ.
Objection 2. Expiation and redemption are attributed to human works, Prov. 16:6; Dan. 4:27.
Reply Partly these phrases are very improper; partly the breaking off of evil works is noted.
Objection 3. Their own oblation is attributed to believers, Rom. 12:1, 2; 2 Tim. 4:6.
Reply Not a hilastic, but a eucharistic one. No less perversely do the same Papists urge the daily repetition of the propitiatory sacrifice in the Mass; contrary to Rom. 5:10, εἰ γὰρ ἐχθροὶ ὄντες κατηλλάγημεν τῷ Θεῷ διὰ τοῦ θανάτου τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ [for if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son], etc.; Heb. 1:3, δι’ ἑαυτοῦ καθαρισμὸν ποιησάμενος τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν [when he had by himself purged our sins]. Heb. 10:10, 12, 14, ἐν ᾧ θελήματι ἡγιασμένοι ἐσμὲν διὰ τῆς προσφορᾶς τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐφάπαξ [by which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all], etc.; μιᾷ γὰρ προσφορᾷ τετελείωκεν εἰς τὸ διηνεκὲς τοὺς ἁγιαζομένους [for by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified], etc.; and contrary to the nature of a propitiatory sacrifice, which ought to be bloody, Heb. 9:22, χωρὶς αἱματεκχυσίας οὐ γίνεται ἄφεσις [without shedding of blood there is no remission], whereas here it is imagined to be unbloody.
XXIX. Intercession,
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which is the other act of priesthood, is everywhere again attributed to Christ, John 14:17, “I will pray the Father.” Rom. 8:34, “who also maketh intercession for us.” Heb. 7:25, “ever living to make intercession for them.” 1 John 2:1, “we have an intercessor,” παράκλητον [advocate], “with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous,” etc. And this consists in the representation of the oblation to be made by himself, or already made, so that, by regard to it, God may supply our necessities and the deprecation of our prayers. This intercession, by no means overthrowing the divine majesty of Christ, is necessary because of the accusations of the devil; always effectual, because of Christ’s full right, John 11:42, “I knew that thou hearest me always.” John 17:24, “Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am,” etc.; and respecting the elect alone, and all the elect, John 17:9, 20, “I pray for them; I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine,” etc.; “neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word,” etc. In another way, however, Christ once interceded, as it were, Zech. 1:12, “how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem?” etc. Job 33:24, “deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom,” etc.; in another way in the days of his flesh, John 17; and now in heaven he intercedes wholly and more gloriously, Heb. 9:12, διὰ δὲ τοῦ ἰδίου αἵματος εἰσῆλθεν ἐφάπαξ εἰς τὰ ἅγια [but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy places], etc.
XXX. As Christ has been priest of the Church at all times, so no one is properly to be joined with him in the priesthood, although in a spiritual sense all believers are priests, and formerly the Aaronites were priests typically. Yet the Papists associate with him both the Mass-sacrificers and angels and saints, to whom they attribute merit and intercession, contrary to 1 Tim. 2:5, “one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus”; Heb. 7:25, “he is able to save to the uttermost those that come
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unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” 1 John 2:1, 2, παράκλητον ἔχομεν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν δίκαιον, καὶ αὐτὸς ἱλασμός ἐστι περὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν [we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the propitiation for our sins], etc.; and contrary to the defect both of expiatory blood and of knowledge of our necessities and prayers, Eccl. 9:5, “the dead know not anything,” etc. Isa. 63:16, “Abraham is ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledgeth us not,” etc.
Objection 1. Souls cry to God, Rev. 6:10.
Reply Either this is understood objectively, as Heb. 12:24, αἵματι ῥαντισμοῦ κρεῖττον λαλοῦντι παρὰ τὸν Ἄβελ [the blood of sprinkling, speaking better things than that of Abel], or it is a general vow for the glory of God.
Objection 2. Living believers pray for one another.
Reply In no other way than from mutual charity, on account of Christ’s merit, while these know our necessities.
Objection 3. The communion of saints requires this.
Reply This does not extend to knowledge, and therefore not to special intercession.
Objection 4. All kings and princes are approached through intermediaries.
Reply In the heavenly court this one intermediary is Jesus, John 14:13, 14, “whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do,” etc.; “if ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it,” etc.
XXXI. Finally, Christ is King, Ps. 45:2, “I speak my works to the King.” Cant. 1:4, “the King hath brought me into his chambers,” etc. Hence he is called Lord, Prince, Head, etc. For he has not only the common kingdom of providence over all things, but also the kingdom of grace, or mediatorial kingdom, over the Church, given to him by the Father because of obedience unto death.
XXXII. And this kingdom is true, altogether to be distinguished from priesthood, against the Socin-
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ians, as the acts of each office teach. The same is most broad; since all creatures are in some way referred to this, and all the faithful are subject to him, Ps. 2:8, “I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” Ps. 72:8, “he shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth,” etc. This breadth is much more conspicuous under the New Testament than it was formerly, Matt. 3:2, ἤγγικε γὰρ ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν [for the kingdom of heaven is at hand], etc. The same is spiritual, according to Luke 17:20, οὐκ ἔρχεται ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ μετὰ παρατηρήσεως [the kingdom of God cometh not with observation]. John 18:36, ἡ βασιλεία ἡ ἐμὴ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου [my kingdom is not of this world], etc. Hence Christ bore himself in the flesh, not as Lord, but as servant, Matt. 20:28. The Jews, the Millenarians, and others wish the contrary, and object:
1. Bodily phrases are employed by the prophets, Ps. 72, etc.
Reply They at the same time teach the spiritual sense of these phrases.
2. The succession of David infers a bodily kingdom, Luke 1:32.
Reply Since Israel is spiritual, no other than a true and spiritual succession can be understood.
3. This kingdom will overturn other bodily kingdoms, Dan. 2:44.
Reply All things, and only so far as they oppose Christ, are meant. The same kingdom is, finally, eternal, according to Ps. 45:7, “thy throne is for ever and ever.” 2 Sam. 7:13, “I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” Luke 1:33, βασιλεύσει ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον Ἰακὼβ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, καὶ τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔσται τέλος [he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end], etc. This the Socinians deny, and object:
1. To the session of Christ is added “until,” Ps. 110:1.
Reply This does not exclude the following duration, but notes the certainty up to the time when danger could exist from enemies; coll.
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2 Sam. 6:23, “she had no child unto the day of her death,” etc.
2. That the kingdom is to be delivered to the Father; the end will come; the Son will be subjected; and God will be all in all, 1 Cor. 15:24, 28.
Reply By kingdom there are conveniently noted the subjects to be presented to the Father; the end is of the world and of this administration of the kingdom; the solemn subjection under the Father does not remove Christ’s glory; finally, God will hereafter be all things in all in Christ, without word and sacraments.
XXXIII. This office requires infinite dignity of person, power, and supreme wisdom; which nevertheless are not to be attributed to the human nature, nor can they be derived from the mere gift of God’s grace.
XXXIV. The act of the kingdom is twofold: government and defense. To government belongs the giving of the most holy law; the working of internal obedience, Ps. 143:10, “teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy good Spirit shall lead me into the land of uprightness,” etc., without which the kingdom of Christ plainly cannot subsist; and finally the joyful remuneration, which he will chiefly render on the last day, 2 Tim. 4:8, στέφανός δικαιοσύνης κεῖταί μοι, ὃν ἀποδώσει μοι ὁ κύριος ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ὁ δίκαιος κριτής [there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day], etc. Defense further respects the whole Church and individual believers, Matt. 16:18, “upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” John 10:28, “I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish,” etc. The Son works this not only by his intercession and by the Spirit, but also by his own power, John 10:28, “and no one shall pluck them out of my hand,” etc. Finally, in heaven he grants this by the removal of evils and enemies, Rev. 20:14,
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καὶ ὁ θάνατος καὶ ὁ ᾅδης ἐβλήθησαν εἰς τὴν λίμνην τοῦ πυρός [and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire], etc.; but here by powerful preservation amid many evils.
XXXV. Christ was King of the Church in every age, even when he was born and suffered, Isa. 9:5, 6, “unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder,” etc. 1 Cor. 2:8, “for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory,” etc. This is to be held against the Socinians, who derive the kingdom only from exaltation, on account of places such as Matt. 28:18, “all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Phil. 2:9, “wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name above every name,” etc.; which only teach that the declaration and greater extension of the kingdom were then made.
XXXVI. Christ also is here to be acknowledged as the sole King of his Church, according to 1 Cor. 8:6, “one Lord Jesus Christ,” etc.; Eph. 4:5, “one Lord,” etc., although the ministers who serve Christ politically and ecclesiastically are various. This must be held chiefly against the Papists, but then also against our own, who in the Church of the Old Testament urge other lords besides Christ—namely, angels, priestly men, and elders—whose precepts and punishments, they say, the Church was then servilely subjected to by God himself. But the general places adduced do not permit this; nor does the old state of angels and priests, which was plainly ministerial; nor their present state, in which angels likewise serve God, and
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ministers inculcate the will of God with ἐξουσία [authority], and magistrates have power committed to them by God; all of whom are still to be regarded by the Church in their own order, 1 Cor. 10:10, “for this cause ought the woman to have power on her head,” διὰ τοὺς ἀγγέλους [because of the angels]. Heb. 13:17, πείθεσθε τοῖς ἡγουμένοις ὑμῶν καὶ ὑπείκετε [obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves]. Rom. 13:1, πᾶσα ψυχὴ ἐξουσίαις ὑπερεχούσαις ὑποτασσέσθω [let every soul be subject unto the higher powers], etc. And thus the refutation of the Papal hierarchy would also be more difficult.
XXXVII. They object:
1. The names of gods and lords were formerly attributed to them.
Reply Never to priests as such; and the same still belongs to magistrates and angels, because of some participation of divine glory.
2. The Church of the New Testament is not subjected to angels, Heb. 2:5.
Reply From this does not follow the subjection of the Old Testament under them, since otherwise, by the same inference, Christ would be deprived of dominion in the Old Testament; but Christ, the Lord of the Church, which is named from its more excellent state, is opposed only to ministering angels.
3. Very many places argue for the power of elders and priests, Matt. 23:2, 3, “the scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat; all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, observe and do.” Gal. 4:1, 2, 3, “now I say, that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all,” ἀλλὰ ὑπὸ ἐπιτρόπους ἐστὶ καὶ οἰκονόμους ἄχρι τῆς προθεσμίας τοῦ πατρός· ὅτε καὶ ἡμεῖς, ὅτε ἦμεν νήπιοι, ὑπὸ τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου ἤμεθα δεδουλωμένοι [but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father; even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world]. Col. 2:15, ἀπεκδυσάμενος τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας ἐδειγμάτισεν ἐν παῤῥησίᾳ, θριαμβεύσας αὐτοὺς ἐν αὐτῷ [having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it]. Heb. 12:9, εἶτα μὲν τῆς σαρκὸς ἡμῶν πατέρας εἴχομεν παιδευτὰς καὶ ἐνετρεπόμεθα [furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence], etc.
Reply Here the matter is only:
α. concerning instruction from
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Moses, which, notwithstanding the defection of the Pharisees, had to be received from them;
β. concerning servitude under the ceremonial law, and the rigid denunciation of the moral law;
γ. concerning the tyrannical power of Satan, abolished by Christ;
δ. concerning fathers, by whom we are begotten according to the flesh, who chastise us in childhood.
Objection 4. Believers of the New Testament are brethren, Ps. 133:1; the people of God and of Christ, Tit. 2:14; the Church of the living God, 1 Tim. 3:15, etc.
Reply These names always belong to the Church, even if this Church is now more widely diffused and commonly furnished with more abundant gifts of the Spirit; nor is there in the places adduced any opposition of the economies.
XXXVIII. Likewise that more recent paradox of some is to be rejected: that the peculiar key of knowledge was formerly given to the priests, on account of which believers were to hang upon their mouth and be subject to them in doctrine. For they were only ministers of faith, whose words were to be proved and examined from the Scriptures, to which all had access, exactly as under the New Testament.
Objection 1. “The priest’s lips should keep knowledge,” Mal. 2:7.
Reply This was their office before others, but it does not infer supreme authority; nor even that this was constantly maintained, coll. verse 8, “and ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law,” etc.
Objection 2. Christ attributes to them the key of knowledge, Luke 11:52.
Reply By the key taken away by them is meant either Scripture itself, or its genuine and spiritual sense.
Objection 3. Under the New Testament the old instruction by men is removed, Isa. 54:13; Jer. 31:34.
Reply By a comparative manner of speaking there is only intimated a more abundant grace of the Spirit
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and increased knowledge; otherwise, with the Enthusiasts, every public ministry would have to be removed, yea, and private instruction also.