Articles Of The Faith And Order Of A Primitive Or Strict And Particular Baptist Church Of The Lord Jesus Christ, Based On The Declaration Of Faith And Practice Of John Gill, D. D., 1720<\/p>\n
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, (who was set up from everlasting as the Mediator of the new Cove\u00adnant,) having engaged to be the Surety of His people[1]<\/sup> did, in the fulness of time, really assume human nature, (but free from sin,)[2]<\/sup> in which He suffered and died in their room and stead, as their Representative and Surety[3]<\/sup> thereby rendering all the satisfaction for their sins which the law and justice of God required[4]<\/sup> as well as making way for the communication of all the blessings which are needful to them, both for time and eternity.[5]<\/sup><\/p>\n ——————————- ————————————————————–<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIt is an unspeakable mercy that Sovereignty has admitted mediation into the moral government of God.\u201d\u2014John Hazelton. Note 1.\u2014A Mediator is one who intervenes between two parties for the advantage of either or both.[1]<\/sup><\/p>\n He is such between God absolutely or abstractedly considered, and all His rational creatures.<\/p>\n Between these and His infinitely great and glorious self, there is so immense a distance in nature, that none can apprehend His majesty apart from a personal revealer. The statement of Matt. 11:27 is more comprehensive than many suppose. \u201cNeither doth any creature\u2014(angel or man) know the Father, save the Son and he to whom the Son willeth to reveal Him.\u201d R.V. So also John 1:18, \u201cNo one (oudeis\u2014neither angel nor man) hath seen God at any time (hath, apart from the Son, apprehended His glory;) the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath (disclosed or) declared Him (revealing Him and making Him known.\u201d) Hence from the beginning, He was \u201cthe Word,\u201d\u2014the expression of the thoughts of God, (John 1:1; 1 John 1:1;) \u201cthe effulgence of His glory and the express image of His substance.\u201d (Heb. 1:3, R.V.)<\/p>\n It would thus appear that Christ is tho Mediator through whom the Divine character is perceived, and the Divine presence approached and worshipped by angels in heaven.<\/p>\n The whole moral universe is governed on mediatorial principles. \u201cBy Him, God made all things,\u201d (Eph. 3:9.) He \u201cupholds all things by the word of His power,\u201d (Heb. 1:3.) The throne of universal government is His throne, (Psa. 45: 6 and Heb. 1:8.) \u201cThe Father hath given all things into His hand,\u201d (John 3:35,) and \u201ccommitted (or given) all judgment (governmental and penal) to the Son,\u201d (John 5:22.) \u201cAll things\u201d here should surely be understood in the widest sense. Christ is the first and final authority in heaven as well as on earth. He thus sustains a mediatorial relation to God and His creatures, apart from His gracious office as the Saviour of sinners.<\/p>\n Note 2.\u2014He was the Mediator between God and unfallen Adam, to whom He appeared in human form, and conveyed in human language the mind of Jehovah. A holy being as Adam then was (Article III) did not indeed, require an atoning and reconciling Mediator, as we do, before he could hold fellowship with his Maker, but (as stated in Note 1) no creature, however exalted, could interchange thoughts with the Supreme Being apart from a personal medium of communication. That Adam\u2019s communion with God, in the time of his innocence, was so conducted is clear from the inspired narrative. The expression, \u201cthe voice of the Lord God,\u201d speaking as He walked, (Gen. 3:18.) necessitates the idea of a human form in union with eternal Godhead, conversing in human speech. (Compare Phil. 2:6, where Christ, prior to His incarnation, is said to have existed \u201cin the form of God.\u201d<\/p>\n Note 3.\u2014Christ is \u201cthe Mediator between God and men,\u201d as men. This, it is submitted, is the meaning of 1 Tim. 2:5. The world, from the time of the Fall, has been under mediatorial government, and is spared, under Christ\u2019s rule, for the sake of His people and the specific relations sustained by Him to them. He is \u201cHead over\u201c all things to the church,\u201d (Eph. 1:22:) and makes all things \u201cwork together for their good,\u201d (Rom. 8:28.) (See \u201cA Manual of Faith and Practice,\u201d pages 13 and 81.)<\/p>\n Note 4.\u2014Christ is the Mediator between God and the elect Church, which is the subject of this Article.<\/p>\n His competence to aot in this capacity proceeds from His complexity\u2014or the union of the two natures, the Divine and the human, in His one person.<\/p>\n As man, He possesses a relation in equity to men, and could live and die in their place\u2014while His deity imprinted its glory on His service and sufferings, and enabled Him to present an obedience and offer an oblation sufficient in their intrinsic worth to meet all the preceptive and penal claims of the Law on their behalf.<\/p>\n As God, He could apprehend the love and purposes of Jehovah. As man, He could impart the name, and thoughts, and grace of Jehovah to men.<\/p>\n He is the \u201cdaysman\u201dof Job 9:33. As the \u201cSon of God,\u201d He could lay His filial hand on God: as the \u201cSon of Man\u201d He could lay His fraternal hand on the men whose nature He assumed, and thus form a living, loving, and lasting medium of Divine blessing, between the great Law-giver, and the people who had been estranged from Him by sin.<\/p>\n He is the \u201cMessenger (or angel) of the Covenant,\u201d (Mal. 3:1.) His mighty mind could and did contain the whole of the Divine scheme of a Covenant Salvation. This He received from God and imparts to chosen and redeemed men\u2014coming to them with words of grace and love, (Zech. 1:13; John 17:26).<\/p>\n Note 5.\u2014Christ is a mediator of (1) union; (2) pacification and reconciliation; (3) introduction; (4) revelation; (5) communication; and (6) intercourse.<\/p>\n Of Union. The human race was originally bound to God by Adam. This link, however, proved unequal to the awful tension, and broke\u2014and all men fell into the abyss of ruin. Elect men were, before time, united to God in Christ, by whom they are held and upheld, and in whom they are preserved, both before and after their call by grace. Deut. 33:3; Jude 1.<\/p>\n Of Pacification and Reconciliation. The two, though inseparable, should not be confounded. Pacification relates to God in His legal or judicial character, maintaining the majesty of His throne and the claims of His Law\u2014all of which were satisfied by Christ, by His enduring in His own person the punishment due to all the sins of all the elect, when made to meet on Him. (Isa. 52:6; Ezek. 16:63; Rom. 3:25; 1 Cor. 5:7; 1 John 2:2.) Reconciliation relates to chosen sinners, to whom.<\/p>\n Christ reveals God as the \u201cGod of peace,\u201dwho will never penally smite them for their sins, but receive them graciously and love them freely, and ever ensure their well-being. Thus displayed, He appears so amiable to their enlightened minds that their hostility to Him is removed, and they turn to Him in trust and love. The revelation of the Cross terminates the enmity of men\u2019s hearts to God. (Rom. 5:11, where for \u201catonement\u201d read reconciliation, R.V.)<\/p>\n Presentation. Sin has estranged and separated men from their Creator. God, however, wills that the gulf which divides His own people from Himself shall be annihilated, and His people brought nigh unto Him. This is effected by Christ, in whose person (by sovereign election) they are nigh, by whosf, blood all obstacles to their approach are removed, and they are made nigh, (Eph. 2:13,) and through whose ministry they are brought nigh, and have access (literally a bringing nigh, in\u00ad troduction or presentation, Rom. 5:2,) \u201cby faith into the grace wherein they stand.\u201d This introduction will be finally consum\u00ad mated, after the Resurrection, by His presenting \u201cthe election of grace\u201d in their whole persons, before the presence of God\u2019s glory, (Col 1:22; Jude 24.)<\/p>\n Revelation. One great object of the mediation of Christ is to make God known to the objects of His sovereign love. For this end they receive eternal life\u2014in order that they should know \u201cthe only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He sent.\u201d (John 17:3.)[2]<\/sup> To the favoured recipients of this heaven-born life, with its strange faculties of perception and apprehension (1 Cor. 2:15.) He \u201cdeclares\u2019\u2019 Goa, (John 1:18,) revealing His parental character, (Matt. 11:27; John 17:6 and 25; and Heb. 2:12,) thus making known to them the secret of their ancient relation to Him, (Psa. 25:14,) so that they hail Him as their Father, and enter into the privileges of becoming (consciously and joyfully) children of God, (John 1:12, R.V.)<\/p>\n Communication. It is the purpose of God that His people should be filled out of His own fulness, and be brought to participate in His communicable attributes, and thus be \u201cpartakers of the Divine nature.\u201d This sublime purpose is effected by His having imparted \u201call fulness\u201d (Col. 1:19,) to Christ, as Mediator, and through Him it is received by His people, (John 1:16.)<\/p>\n Of intercourse. All love desires intercourse with its objects, and aims at establishing and maintaining reciprocity of affection. It is the pleasure of God that His people should know His love to them, and that the love of their heaven-bom hearts should flow out to Him. This is effected by the mediation of Christ. In Him, God has revealed His heart to His people, and through Him they open their hearts to Him. Thus, tnrough His mediatorial ministry, there is a flux and reflux of spiritual intercourse. He blesses them in Christ, they bless Him by Christ. He speaks to them in His Son, (Heb. 1:2, R.V.) they speak to Him through His Son.<\/p>\n Note 6.\u2014The Mediation of Christ should be studied in the light of the figures in which it is set forth in the Word of God. Gen. 23:12. Heaven is unapproachable from this world, and God is unattainable by man. Jacob\u2019s ladder connected heaven and earth. The person and work of Jesus Christ bring God and His people into living and loving association.<\/p>\n Isa. 22:23. \u201cA nail in a sure place.\u201d The firm and smooth wall cannot sustain the vessels, so God, abstractedly considered, cannot hold and uphold sinners. Christ as Mediator is in \u201cthe sure place\u201d of the purpose, power, wisdom and love of God, and yet extends His upholding grace to all the chosen race\u2014sustaining all their weight, and thus none fall or are destroyed.<\/p>\n Christ is likened to objects which cast a shadow, thus affording protection from the heat of the sun, and other external dangers\u2014the shadow of a rock, (Isa. 32:2,) of a tree, (Cant. 2:3,) of a wing, (Psa. 36:7,) and of a hand, (Isa. 51:16,) all of which set Him forth as the Mediator of interposition between His people, and all sources of danger or disaster.<\/p>\n Christ is compared to fruit-bearing trees, (Cant, 2:2.) These come between men and the nutritious juices of the earth, which have no power to sustain human life, but which they transmute into the fruit so grateful for human food. So Christ comes between God in His abstract glory and the sinners He loves, and presents His majestic attributes and perfections in a form most attractive and delightful to poor, broken-hearted sinners\u2014thus acting as the Mediator of communication, by whom the love and grace of God are conveyed to their souls.<\/p>\n Christ is set forth by the shepherd (John 10:11,) who acts as the responsible Mediator between his flock and all that might injure them; coming between them and hunger, drought, and all their enemies. Thus Christ in His great office of Mediator comes between the elect and the fiery law and its condemnation and curse\u2014between them and Satan and all infernal powers\u2014 and between them and all penal and circumstantial evil, while He pastorises them with the tenderest care.<\/p>\n The Saviour is set forth as the Mediator of intercession by Moses, in his sublime prayer for his nation, (Exod. 32:30,32.) See Mc\u2019Ewen on the Types, Art. Moses, and Hazelton\u2019s Sermons on Deut. 18:16, Vol. ii., 14, and Heb. 12:24, Vol. iv., 20.<\/p>\n Note 7.\u2014The term Mediator, when applied to Christ, is an inclusive one and comprehends all His gracious offices. He is the \u201cMediator of the New Covenant,\u201d (Heb. 9:15, and 12:24,) and as such performs every engagement which that Covenant obliges Him to discharge. As Mediator, He is Prophet, Priest, King, Redeemer, Sacrifice and Advocate.[3]<\/sup><\/p>\n His personality stands in His Divine nature as eternally one with the Father and the Spirit: His Sonship is based on His complexity as God and man: His mediation is founded on His Sonship, as \u201cthe only begotten of the Father,\u201d and the various manifestations of His gracious activity, whether they concern the claims of God or the needs of His people, are branches of Wia mediatorial work.[4]<\/sup> See “A Manual of Faith and Practice,\u201d page 10, note by G. Murrell.<\/p>\n It was part of Has work as Mediator to produce the merit which is the ground of our acceptance\u2014to shed the blood which is the propitiation for our sins\u2014and to offer the supplications which ensure our participation in Covenant blessings.<\/p>\n Note 8. \u2014God can never be a failure; and the Deity of Christ ensures the success of His mediation. All whose cause He has undertaken, must be saved. Could He intervene between God and one sinner who is finally lost, the whole scheme of salvation might collapse.<\/p>\n The success of Christ\u2019s mediation does not depend on what His people are, or think, or will, or do\u2014considered either as creatures or new creatures. His personal greatness and official ability ensure the absolute success of the work. (Isa. 42:4.)<\/p>\n Let the reader grasp this, and Arminianism will appear absurd; free-will and human merit mere fictions of ignorant men; and Duty-faith an insolent slander upon the grace of God and the saving competence of Christ, His only begotten Son.<\/p>\n ——————————-
\n[1] Prov 8:23; Zech 13:7; Rev 13:8
\n[2] Is 7:14; Matt 1:23; Matt 12:8; Gal 4:4; Heb 2:14; 1 Jn 4:2,3
\n[3] ls 53:5,6; Matt 20:28; Jn 10:15; 11: 50; Rom 5:6,7; 1 Cor 15:3; 2 Cor 5:21; Gal 3:13; Eph 5:2; 1 Tim 1:15; 1 Pet 2:24; 3:18; 4:1; 1 Jn 3:16
\n[4] Job 33:24; Ps 85:10; Ez 16:63; Dan 9:24; Acts 13:39; Rom 3:24-26; 8:1,3,33; Gal 3:13
\n[5] Rom 8:32; Gal 3:14; 4:5; 2 Pet 1:3<\/p>\nAnnotations:<\/h3>\n
Christ is a Mediator in other senses than this Article states.<\/h4>\n
The Mediator of the New Covenant.<\/h4>\n
The Seven Branches of Mediation.<\/h4>\n
Mediation: How Illustrated in the Bible.<\/h4>\n
Christ\u2019s Mediation an Inclusive Office.<\/h4>\n
The Mediation of the Son of God Effectual.<\/h4>\n
\n[1] The original word, Mesitea, means no more than this, and signifies one who is in the middle. The above is, therefore, sub\u00ad mitted as more accurate th in the popular definition that a \u201cMediator is one who interposes between two persons who are estranged, with a view to their reconciliation.\u201d Arbitration, appeasement, and reconciliation are rather acts that grow out of the office of a mediator, than the office itself. The writer conceives that this prevalent conception of the restricted meaning of the term lies at the root of the meagre views of this office of the Son of God which are so common.
\n[2] John 17:3 is often quoted: \u201cAnd this is life eternal, to know Thee,\u201d &c., and it is supposed to mean that the way in which eternal life is obtained is through our acquiring a know\u00ad ledge of God. It, however, refers to the illumination of those who had previously received life from Christ. \u201cFather, glorify Thy Son. He has exercised His power, and quickened into spiritual life as many of Thine elect as Thou hast drawn to Him.\u201d (John 6:37,44,65.) These He has informed of Thy character, grace and glory, in harmony with the object for which this life was imparted to them.\u201d (See verse 7.)
\n[3] How inaccurate, therefore, to speak of the \u201cmerits and mediation,\u201d or \u201catonement and mediation,\u201d or the \u201cintercession and mediation\u201d of Christ, as if these phrases expressed two distinct thoughts!
\n[4] Since the unhappy \u201cSonship Controversy\u201d of 1860, there has been a strange reticence among Strict and Particular Baptists concerning the relationship of Christ to God as the \u201conly begotten of the Father.\u201d He is preached as Jesus, as Christ, as the Redeemer\u2014anything but as \u201cthe Son of the living God,\u201d (John 6:69,) yet how frequently is He expressly said to fill His specified offices as the Son! As the Son of God, He was sent into the world, (John 2:16; 1 John 4:9.) As the Son of God, He is the object of faith (John 6:40, and 9:35): the vicarious sufferer (Rom. 8:3): and the propitiation for sin (1 John 4:15). The dignity and glory of His person as the Son invest His blood withits intrinsic efficacy to cleanse from all sin, (1 John 1:7.) As the Son of God He is the great High Priest; (Heb. 7:28;) King, (Col 1:13,) and Prophet, (Heb. 1:2.) As the Son of God He will return, (1 Thess 1:10,) to wind up the vast concerns of Time, (John 5:22,) and take His people to Himself.<\/p>\n