The Works of John Bunyan, vol 1 by John Bunyan (best book clubs txt) 📖

of our bodies and souls; not that the Godhead undertook anything without the manhood, neither did the manhood do anything without the virtue and union of the Godhead; and thou must of necessity do this, otherwise thou canst not find any sound ground and footing for thy soul to rest upon.

For if thou look upon any of these asunder—that is to say, the Godhead without the manhood, or the manhood without the Godhead—thou wilt conclude that what was done by the Godhead was not done for man, being done without the manhood; or else, that that which was done with the manhood could not answer Divine justice, in not doing what it did by the virtue and in union with the Godhead; for it was the Godhead that gave virtue and value to the suffering of the manhood, and the manhood being joined therewith, that giveth us an interest into the heavenly glory and comforts of the Godhead.

What ground can a man have to believe that Christ is his Saviour, if he do not believe that He suffered for sin in his nature? And what ground also can a man have to think that God the Father is satisfied, being infinite, if he believe not also that He who gave the satisfaction was equal to Him who was offended?

Therefore, beloved, when you read of the offering of the body of the Son of Man for our sins, then consider that He did it in union with, and by the help of, the eternal Godhead. “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered Himself without spot to God, purge your consciences from dead works,” etc.

And when thou readest of the glorious works and splendour of the Godhead in Christ, then consider that all that was done by the Godhead, it was done as it had union and communion with the manhood.

And then thou shalt see that the devil is overcome by God-man; sin, death, Hell, the grave, and all overcome by Jesus, God-man, and then thou shalt find them overcome indeed. They must needs be overcome when God doth overcome them; and we have good ground to hope the victory is ours, when in our nature they are overcome.

Second. The second thing is, how to apply, or to make application of this Christ to the soul. And for this there are to be considered the following particulars—

1. That when Jesus Christ did thus appear, being born of Mary, He was looked upon by the Father as if the sin of the whole world was upon Him; nay, further, God did look upon Him and account Him the sin of man—“He hath made Him to be sin for us,” (2 Cor 5:21) that is, God made His Son Jesus Christ our sin, or reckoned Him to be, not only a sinner, but the very bulk of sin of the whole world, and condemned Him so severely as if He had been nothing but sin. “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh”—that is, for our sins condemned His Son Jesus Christ; as if He had in deed and truth been our very sin, although altogether “without sin” (Rom 8:3; 2 Cor 5:21).

Therefore, as to the taking away of thy curse, thou must reckon Him to be made sin for thee. And as to His being thy justification, thou must reckon Him to be thy righteousness; for, saith the Scripture, “He,” that is, God, “hath made HIM to be SIN for us, though He knew no sin, that we might be made the RIGHTEOUSNESS of God in HIM.”

2. Consider for whose sakes all this glorious design of the Father and the Son was brought to pass; and that you shall find to be for man, for sinful man (2 Cor 8:9).

3. The terms on which it is made ours; and that you will find to be a free gift, merely arising from the tender-heartedness of God—you are “justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ, whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiation through faith in His blood,” etc. (Rom 3:25).

4. How men are to reckon it theirs; and that is, upon the same terms which God doth offer it, which is freely, as they are worthless and undeserving creatures, as they are without all good, and also unable to do any good. This, I say, is the right way of applying the merits of Christ to thy soul, for they are freely given to thee, a poor sinner, not for anything that is in thee, or done by thee, but freely as thou art a sinner, and so standest in absolute need thereof.

And, Christian, thou art not in this thing to follow thy sense and feeling, but the very Word of God. The thing that doth do the people of God the greatest injury, it is their too little hearkening to what the Gospel saith, and their too much giving credit to what the Law, sin, the devil, and conscience saith; and upon this very ground to conclude that because there is a certainty of guilt upon the soul, therefore there is also for certain, by sin, damnation to be brought upon the soul. This is now to set the Word of God aside, and to give credit to what is formed by the contrary; but thou must give more credit to one syllable of the written Word of the Gospel than thou must give to all the saints and angels in Heaven and earth; much more than to the devil and thy own guilty conscience.

Let me give you a parable:—There was a certain man that had committed treason against his king; but forasmuch as the king had compassion upon him, he sent him, by the hand of a faithful messenger, a pardon under his own hand and seal; but in the country where this poor man dwelt, there were also many that sought to trouble him, by often putting of him in mind of his treason, and the law that was to be executed on the offender. Now which way should this man so honour his king, but as by believing his handwriting, which was the pardon. Certainly he would honour him more by so doing than to regard all the clamours of his enemies continually against him.

Just thus it is here: thou having committed treason against the King of Heaven, He through compassion, for Christ’s sake, hath sent thee a pardon; but the devil, the Law, and thy conscience do continually seek to disturb thee by bringing thy sins afresh into thy remembrance. But now, wouldst thou honour thy King? Why then, he that believeth “the record that God hath given of His Son,” hath set to his seal that God is true. “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son”

(1 John 5:11). And therefore, my brethren, seeing God our Father hath sent us damnable traitors a pardon from Heaven, even all the promises of the Gospel, and also hath sealed to the certainty of it with the heart-blood of His dear Son, let us not be daunted, though our enemies, with terrible voices, do bring our former life never so often into our remembrance.

Object. But, saith the soul, how, if after I have received a pardon, I should commit treason again? What should I do then?

Answ. Set the case: thou hast committed abundance of treason, He hath by Him abundance of pardons—“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Isa 55:7).

Sometimes I myself have been in such a strait that I have been almost driven to my wit’s ends with the sight and sense of the greatness of my sins; but calling to mind that God was God in His mercy, pity, and love, as well as in His holiness, justice, etc.; and again, considering the ability of the satisfaction that was given to holiness and justice, to the end there might be way made for sinners to lay hold of this mercy; I say, I considering this, when tempted to doubt and despair, I have answered in this manner—

“Lord, here is one of the greatest sinners that ever the ground bare; a sinner against the Law, and a sinner against the Gospel. I have sinned against light, and I have sinned against mercy. And now, Lord, the guilt of them breaks my heart. The devil also he would have me despair, telling of me that Thou art so far from hearing my prayers in this my distress, that I cannot anger Thee worse than to call upon Thee; for saith he, Thou art resolved for ever to damn, and not to grant me the least of Thy favour; yet, Lord, I would fain have forgiveness. And Thy Word, though much may be inferred from it against me, yet it saith, If I come unto Thee, Thou will in nowise cast me out. Lord, shall I honour Thee most by believing Thou canst pardon my sins, or by believing Thou canst not? Shall I honour Thee most by believing Thou wilt pardon my sins, or by believing Thou wilt not? Shall I honour the blood of Thy Son also by despairing that the virtue thereof is not sufficient, or by believing that it is sufficient to purge me from all my blood-red and crimson sins? Surely, Thou that couldst find so much mercy as to pardon Manasseh, Mary Magdalene, the three thousand murderers, persecuting Paul, murderous and adulterous David, and blaspheming Peter—Thou that offeredst mercy to Simon Magus, a witch, and didst receive the astrologers and conjurors in the 19th of Acts—Thou hast mercy enough for one poor sinner. Lord, set the case: my sins were bigger than all these, and I less deserved mercy than any of these, yet Thou hast said in Thy Word that he that cometh to thee Thou wilt in “nowise cast out.” And God hath given comfort to my soul, even to such a sinner as I am. And I tell you, there is no way so to honour God, and to beat out the devil, as to stick to the truth of God’s Word and the merits of Christ’s blood by believing. When Abraham believed—even against hope and reason—he gave glory to God (Rom 4). And this is our victory, even our faith (1 John 5:4). Believe, and all things are possible to you. He that believeth shall be saved. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of Christ’s Father’s hands.”

And if thou dost indeed believe this, thou wilt not only confess Him as the Quakers do—that is, that He was born at Bethlehem of Mary, suffered on Mount Calvary under Pontius Pilate, was dead and buried, rose again, and ascended, etc.; for all this they confess, and in the midst of their confession they do verily deny that His death on that Mount Calvary did give satisfaction to God for the sins of the world, and that His resurrection out of Joseph’s sepulchre is the cause of our justification in the sight of God, angels, and devils; but, I say, if thou dost believe these things indeed, thou dost believe that then, so long ago, even before thou wast born, He did bear thy sins in His own body, which then was hanged on the tree, and never before nor since; that thy old man was then crucified with Him,