The Third Principle expounded

Q.If damnation be the reward of sin, then is man of all creatures most miserable; a dog or a toad when they die, all their misery is ended, but when a man dieth, there is the beginning of his woe. A. It were so indeed, if there were no means of deliverance; but God hath shewed his mercy in giving a Saviour to mankind. Q. How is this Saviour called? A. Jesus Christ. “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” – Matt. 1:21. Q. What is Jesus Christ? A. The eternal Son of God made man in all thingsa, even in his infirmities like other men, save only in sinb. a “For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.” – Heb. 2:16; “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” – John 1:14. b “Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared” – Heb. 5:7; “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.” – Mark 13:32. Q. How was he made man void of sin? A. He was conceived in the womb of a virgin, and sanctified by the Holy Ghost at his conception. “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.” – Matt. 1:18. Q. Why must our Saviour be both God and man? A. He must be man because man had sinned, and therefore a man must die for sin to appease God’s wrath; He must be God to sustain and uphold the manhood, to overcome and vanquish death. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” – 1 Tim. 2:5,6. Q. What be the offices of Christ to make him an all-sufficient Saviour? A. He is a Priest, a Prophet, a King. “Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.” – Psa. 45:7; “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” – Luke 4:8; “The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken…I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” – Deut. 18:15,18; “And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” – Luke 1:33; “ The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries. He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.” – Psa. 110. Q. Why is he a Priest? A. To work the means of salvation in the behalf of mankind. Q. How doth he work the means of salvation? A. First, by making satisfaction to his Father for the sin of man; secondly, by making intercession. “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” – Matt. 20:28; “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens” – Heb. 7:25,26. Q. How doth he make satisfaction? A. By two means: and the first is by offering a sacrifice. Q. What is the sacrifice? A. Christ himself, as he is a man consisting of body and soul. “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.” – Isa. 53:10. Q. What is the altar? A. Christ as he is God, is the altar on which he sacrificed himself. “And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.” – Rev. 8:3; “We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.” – Heb. 13:10. Q. Who was the Priest? A. None but Christ, and that he is both God and man. “So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.” – Heb. 5:5,6. Q. How oft did he sacrifice himself? A. Never but once. “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” – Heb. 9:28. Q. What death did he suffer when he sacrificed himself? A. A death upon the cross, peculiar to himself alone; for besides the separation of body and soul, he felt also the pangs of hell, in that the whole wrath of God due to the sin of man, was poured forth upon him. “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” – Isa. 53:5; “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.” – John 12:27; “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” – Rev. 19:15; “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” – Luke 22:44. Q. What profit cometh from his sacrifice? A. God’s wrath is appeased by it. “For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” – Heb. 9:26. Q. Could the sufferings of Christ, which was but for a short time, countervail everlasting damnation, and so appease God’s wrath? A. Yes; for seeing Christ suffered, God suffered, though not in his Godhead; and that is more than if all men in the world had suffered for ever and ever. “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” – Acts 20:28; “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.” – 2 Cor. 5:15. Q. Now tell me the other means of satisfaction. A. It is the perfect fulfilling of the law. Q. How did he fulfil the law? A. By his perfect righteousness, which consisteth of two parts; the first, the integrity and pureness of his human naturea; the other, his obedience in performing all that the law requiredb. a “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” – 1 Cor. 1:30; “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God” – Rom. 3:25; “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” – 2 Cor. 5:21. b “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” – Rom. 5:19; “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.” – Rom. 4:8. Q. You have shewed how Christ doth make satisfaction, tell me likewise how he doth make intercession. A. He alone doth continually appear before his Father in heaven, making the faithful, and all their prayers, acceptable unto him, by applying of the merits of his own perfect satisfaction to them. “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” – Rom. 8:34; “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” – 1 Pet. 2:5. Q. Why is Christ a Prophet? A. To reveal unto his church the way and means of salvation, and this he doth outwardly by the ministers of his word, and inwardly by the teaching of his Spirit. “It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.” – John 6:45; “While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.” – Matt. 17:5. Q. Why is he also King? A. That he might bountifully bestow upon us, and convey unto us, all the aforesaid means of salvation. “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” – Isa. 9:7. Q. How doth he shew himself to be King? A. In that being dead and buried, he rose from the grave, quickened his dead body, ascended into heaven, and now sitteth at the right hand of the Father, with full power and glory in heaven. “Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly” – Acts 10:40; “Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.” – Eph. 4:8; “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.” – Acts 1:9. Q.How else? A. In that he doth continually inspire and direct his servants, by the divine power of his Holy Spirit, according to his holy word. “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” – Isa. 9:7; “And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.” – Isa. 30:21. Q. But to whom will this blessed King communicate all these means of salvation? A. He offereth them to many, and they are sufficient to save all mankind; but all shall not be saved thereby, because by faith they will not receive them. “So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.” – Matt. 20:16; “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” – John 1:11.