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THAT THE IMPUTATION OF THE LORD'S MERIT IS NOTHING ELSE THAN THE REMISSION OF SINS AFTER REPENTANCE.

18. It is believed in the church, that the Lord was sent by the Father, to make an atonement for the human race, and that this was done by the fulfilling of the law, and the passion of the cross; and that thus He took away damnation, and made satisfaction; and that without that atonement, satisfaction, and propitiation, the human race would have perished in eternal death; and this from justice, which by some is also called vindictive. It is true, that without the coming of the Lord into the world, all would have perished; but how it is to be understood, that the Lord fulfilled all things of the Law, may be seen above, in its own article; and also why he suffered the cross; from which it may be seen, that it was not from any vindictive justice, because this is not a divine attribute. The divine attributes are, justice, love, mercy, and goodness; and God is justice itself, love itself, mercy itself, and goodness itself; and where these are, there is nothing of vengeance, thus no vindictive justice. Since the fulfilling of the law, and the passion of the cross, have heretofore been understood by many, in no other sense, than that the Lord did, by these two things, make satisfaction for the human race, and remove from them foreseen or appointed damnation; from the connection, and at the same time from the principle, that man is saved by the mere belief that it is so, has followed the dogma concerning the imputation of the Lord's merit, by taking those two things which were of the Lord's merit, for satisfaction. But this falls to the ground, from what was said concerning the fulfilling of the Law by the Lord, and his passion of the cross; and at the same time it may be seen, that imputation of merit is an expression without meaning, unless by it be understood the remission of sins after repentance; for nothing of the Lord can be imputed to man; but salvation may be awarded by the Lord, after man has repented, that is, after he has seen and acknowledged his sins, and then desists from them, and this from the Lord. Then salvation is awarded to him, in such a way, that man is not saved by his own merit and his own justice, but by the Lord, who alone fought and conquered the hells, and who afterwards. also alone fights for man, and conquers the hells for him.

These things are the merit and righteousness of the Lord; and these can never be imputed to man; for should they be imputed, the merit and righteousness of the Lord would be appropriated to man as his, and this never is and never can be done. If imputation were possible, any impenitent and impious man might impute to himself the merit of the Lord, and think himself justified by it; which nevertheless would be to defile what is holy with what is profane, and to profane the name of the Lord; for it would be to keep the thought in the Lord, and the will in hell, when yet the will is the all of man. There is a faith which is of GOD, and a faith which is of man. Those have the faith which is of GOD, who repent; but those have the faith which is of man, who do not repent, and still think of imputation. The faith which is of God is living faith, but the faith which is of man is dead faith. That the Lord himself and his disciples preached repentance and the remission of sins, is evident from the following passages: "Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent ye, for the kingdom of the heavens is at hand." Matthew iv. 17. John said, " Bring forth fruits worthy of repentance; even now the axe lies at the root of the trees; every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit, is cut down and cast into the fire." Luke iii. 8, 9. Jesus said, "Unless ye repent, ye will all perish." Luke xiii. 5. "Jesus came preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, saying, The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye, and believe the gospel." Mark i. 14, 15. Jesus sent forth the disciples, who went out and preached that men should repent.' Mark vi. 12. "Jesus said to the apostles, that they should preach in his name repentance and remission of sins among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." Luke xxiv. 47. "John preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." Luke iii. 3. Mark i. 4. By baptism is meant spiritual washing, which is from sins, and is called regeneration. Repentance and the remission of sins by the Lord, are thus described in John; "He came unto his own, but his own received Him not; but as many as received Him, to them gave He power to be sons of God, even to those who believe in his name; who were born, not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." i. 11-13. By his own, are meant those who were then of the church, where the Word was; by the sons of God, and those who believe in his name, are meant those who believe in the Lord, and

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who believe the Word; by bloods, are meant falsifications of the Word, and the confirmations of falsity by it. The will of the flesh, is the voluntary proprium of man, which in itself is evil; the will of man, is the intellectual proprium of man, which in itself is falsity; the born of God, are those who are regenerated by the Lord. Hence it appears, that those are saved who are in the good of love, and in the truths of faith from the Lord; but not those who abide in their own proprium.

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THAT THE LORD, AS TO THE DIVINE HUMAN, IS CALLED THE SON OF GOD, AND AS TO THE WORD, THE SON OF MAN.

19. Ir is not known in the church, but that the Son of God is another person of the Godhead, distinct from the person of the Father. Thence is the faith concerning a Son of God born from eternity. Because this is universally received, and is concerning God, there is given no power or liberty of thinking about it, from any understanding, not even of thinking what it is to be born from eternity; for whosoever thinks about it from the understanding, will surely say with himself, "This is above my comprehension, but still I say it, because others say it, and I believe it, because others believe it." But they may know, that there is no Son from eternity, but that the Lord is from eternity. When it is known what the Lord is, and what the Son is, one can also think from the understanding concerning the triune God, and not before.

"The

That the Human of the Lord, conceived of Jehovah as Father, and born of the virgin Mary, is the Son of God, manifestly appears from the following passages: angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man, whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. When the angel came in unto her, he said, Hail, thou hast obtained favor, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and thought what that salutation could be. And the angel said to her Fear not, Mary, thou hast found favor with God. Behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a Son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called THE SON OF THE MOST HIGH. But Mary said to the angel, How shall this be, since I know not a man? And the angel answered and said to her, THE HOLY SPIRIT SHALL COME UPON THEE, AND THE POWER OF THE MOST HIGH SHALL OVERSHADOW THEE; wherefore also THE HOLY THING, that is born of thee, shall be called THE SON OF GOD." Luke i. 26-35. It is here said, Thou shalt conceive and bear a Son; He shall be great, and shall be called THE SON OF THE MOST HIGH; and again, That Holy Thing that is born of thee, shall be called THE SON OF GOD; whence it appears, that the Hu

man conceived of God, and born of the virgin Mary, is what is called THE SON OF GOD. In Isaiah; "The Lord himself giveth you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call his name GOD WITH US." vii. 14. That the Son conceived of God and born of the virgin, is He, who should be called GOD WITH US, thus who is THE SON OF GOD, is manifest. That it is so, is also confirmed in Matthew i. 22, 23. In Isaiah; "Unto us a CHILD is born, unto us a SoN is given; the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Hero, THE FATHER OF ETERNITY, the Prince of peace." ix. 6; in like manner here, for it is said, "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given," who is not a Son from eternity, but a Son born in the world; which also appears from the words of the prophet in the next verse; and from the words of the angel Gabriel to Mary, Luke i. 32, 33, which are similar. In David; "I will announce the decree; Jehovah said, THOU ART MY SON, this day have I begotten Thee. Kiss THE SON, lest He be angry, and ye perish in the way." Psalm ii. 7. 12. Here is not meant a Son from eternity, but the Son born in the world; for it is prophetical concerning the coming of the Lord, and therefore it is called a decree which Jehovah announced to David. This day, is not from eternity, but in time. In the same; "I will set his hand in the sea; He shall cry unto Me, Thou art my Father; I will make Him my FIRST-BORN." Psalm lxxxix. 26, 27. In the whole of this Psalm, the Lord who was to come is treated of. fore He is meant, who should call Jehovah his Father, and who should be the First-born, thus who is the Son of God. So also in other passages, where He is called "a Root out of the stem of Jesse." Isaiah xi. 1. "A Branch of David." Jeremiah xxiii. 5. "The Seed of the woman." Gen. iii. 15. "The Only begotten." John i. 18. "A Priest forever; and the Lord." Psalm cx. 4, 5.

Where

In the Jewish church, by the Son of God, was meant the Messiah, whom they expected, and concerning whom they knew that He was to be born in Bethlehem. That by the Son of God, the Messiah was understood by them, appears from these passages. In John; "Peter said, We believe and acknowledge that thou art THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD." vi. 69. In the same; "Thou art THE CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD, who was to come into the world." xi. 27. In Matthew; "The high priest asked Jesus, whether He

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