Christ: The Way, the Truth, and the Life

by John Brown

Now, for such as would make use of Christ as the way to the Father in the point of justification, those things are requisite; to which we shall only premise this word of caution, That we judge not the want of these requisites a ground to exempt any, that heareth the gospel, from the obligation to believe and rest upon Christ as he is offered in the gospel.

1. There must be a conviction of sin and misery. A conviction of original guilt, whereby we are banished out of God's presence and favour, and are in a state of enmity and death, are come short of the glory of God, Rom. iii. 23; becoming dead or under the sentence of death, through the offence of one, Rom. v. 15; being made sinners by one man's disobedience, verse 19, and therefore under the reigning power of death, verse 17, and under that judgment that came upon all men to condemnation, verse 18. And of original innate wickedness, whereby the heart is filled with enmity against God, and is a hater of him and all his ways, standing in full opposition to him and to his holy laws; loving to contradict and resist him in all his actings; despising and undervaluing all his condescensions of love; obstinately refusing his goodness and offers of mercy; and peremptorily persisting in rebellion and heart-opposition; not only not accepting his kindness and offers of mercy, but contemning them, trampling them under foot as embittered against him. As also, there must be a conviction of our actual transgressions, whereby we have corrupted our ways yet more, run farther away from God, brought on more wrath upon our souls, according to that sentence of the law, "Cursed is everyone that abideth not in all things that are written in the law to do them," Deut. xxvii. 26. Gal. iii. 10. What way this conviction is begun and carried on in the soul, and to what measure it must come, I cannot now stand to explain; only, in short, know, That upon whatever occasion it be begun, whether by a word carried home to the heart by the finger of God, or by some sharp and crossing dispensation, fear of approaching death, some heinous out-breaking, or the like, it is a real thing, a heart-reaching conviction, not general and notional, but particular, plain, and pinching, affecting the heart with fear and terror, making the soul seriously and really to mind this matter, to be taken up with the thoughts of it, and anxiously and earnestly to cry out, "What shall I do to be saved?" and finally, will make the soul willing to hearken and hear what hopes of mercy there is in the gospel, and to embrace the way of salvation which is there laid down. And the reason of this is, because Christ himself tells us, "The whole needeth not the physician, but the sick," Matt. ix. 12. "He is not come to call the righteous," that is, such as are righteous in their own eyes, "but sinners," that is, such as are now no more whole at the heart, as seeing no evil, no hazard or danger, but pricked and pierced with the sense of their lost condition, being under the heavy wrath and vengeance of the great God, because of sin; and seeing their own vileness, cursedness, wickedness and desperate madness. Because naturally we hate God and Christ, John xv. 23-25, and have a strong and natural antipathy at the way of salvation through Jesus, therefore nothing but strong and inevitable necessity will drive us to a compliance with this gospel device of love.

2. There must be some measure of humiliation. Under this conviction the man is bowed down, and made mute before God; no more boasting of his goodness and of his happy condition; no high or great thoughts of his righteousness; for all are looked on now as "filthy rags," Isa. lxv. 6. "What things were as gain before to the soul, must now be counted loss, yea, and as dung," Philip, iii. 7, 8. The man must be cast down in himself, and far from high and conceity thoughts of himself, or of any thing he ever did or can do. "For the Lord resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble," James iv. 6; 1 Pet. v. 5. "He reviveth the spirit of the humble," Isa. lvii. 15. "He that humbleth himself shall be exalted," Matt. xviii. 4, and xxiii. 12; Luke xiv. 11, and xviii. 14.

3. There must be a despairing of getting help or relief out of this condition, by ourselves, or any thing we can do; a conviction of the unprofitableness of all things under the sun for our relief. No expectation of help from our supposed good heart, good purposes, good deeds, works of charity, many prayers, commendations of others, sober and harmless walking, or anything else within us or without us that is not Christ. For, so long as we have the least hope or expectation of doing our own business without Christ, we will not come to him. Our heart hangeth so after the old way of salvation through works, that we cannot endure to hear of any other, nor can we yield to any other. Could we but have heaven by the way of works, we would spare no pains, no cost, no labour, no expenses; nay, we would put ourselves to much pain and torment by whippings, cuttings, fastings, watchings, and the like; we would spare our first-born; nay, we would dig our graves in a rock with our nails, and cut our own days, could we but get heaven by this means; such is our antipathy at the way of salvation through a crucified Christ, that we would choose any way but that, cost what it would; therefore, before we can heartily close with Christ and accept of him, we must be put from those refuges of lies, and see that there is nothing but a disappointment written on them all, that all our prayers, fastings, cries, duties, reformations, sufferings, good wishes, good deeds, &c. are nothing in his eyes, but so many provocations to the eyes of his jealousy, and so, further causes of our misery.

4. There must be a rational, deliberate, and resolute relinquishing of all those things in ourselves, on which our heart is ready to dote. The man being convinced of the vanity of all things by which he hath been hoping for salvation, must now purpose to lose his grips of them, to turn his back upon them, to quit them with purpose of heart, and to say to them, get you hence, as Isa. xxx. 22. This is to deny ourselves, which we must do ere we become his disciples, Matt. xvi. 24. This is to forsake our father's house, Psalm xlv. 10, and to pluck out our right eye, and to cut off our right arm, Matth. v. 29, 30. This abandoning of all our false propes and subterfuges must be resolute, over the belly of much opposition within, from the carnal and natural inclinations of the heart; and of much opposition without, from Satan's ensnaring suggestions and deceitful temptations: It must be a real, rational act of the soul, upon solid and thorough conviction of their unprofitableness, yea, of their dangerousness and destructiveness.

5. There must be some knowledge of the nature of the gospel covenant, and of the way which now God hath chosen whereby to glorify his grace in the salvation of poor sinners. That God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost thought good, for the glory of free grace and wisdom, in a way of justice and mercy, to send Jesus Christ to assume man's nature, and so become God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, for ever; and to become under the law, to undergo the curse thereof, and to die the cursed death of the cross, to satisfy justice, and pay the ransom for the redemption of the elect. In which undertaking our Lord was a servant, Isa. xlii. 1, and xlix. 6, and lii. 13, and liii. 11. Zech. iii. 8. Matt. xii. 18; and had furniture from God for all his undertaking, Isa. xlii. 1, and lxi. 1, 2. Matt. xii. 18; and had a promise of seeing his seed, and of prolonging his days, &c. Isa. xliii. 10, 11. Thus there was a covenant of redemption betwixt God and the Mediator; and the Mediator undertaking, was obliged to perform all that he undertook, and accordingly did so. For, as the Lord laid on him, or caused to meet together on him, "the iniquity of us all," Isa. liii. 6, so in due time "he bare our griefs, and carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him. He was cut off out of the land of the living, and stricken for the transgression of his people; he made his soul an offering for sin, and bare the iniquities of his people. Pouring out his soul unto death he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors," Isa. liii. 4, 5, 10, 11, 12. So "that 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, for sin (or by a sacrifice for sin) condemned sin in the flesh," Rom. viii. 3, "that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us," verse 4. Thus "he made him sin (or a sacrifice for sin) that we might become righteous," 2 Cor. v. 20; and "he was once offered to bear the sins of many," Heb. ix. 28; and "he, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God," verse 14, and "his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree," 1 Pet. ii. 24. There must, I say, be some knowledge of, and acquaintance with this great mystery of the gospel, wherein is declared "the manifold wisdom of God," Eph. iii. 10, and with the noble design of God, in sending his Son, after this manner, to die the death, that condemned sinners might live, and return to the bosom of God; as redeemed "not with gold or silver, or corruptible things but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot," 1 Pet. i. 18. And being "so redeemed by blood, to become kings and priests unto God," 1 Pet. ii. 2. Rev. v. 9, 10. The man must not be ignorant of this, else all will be in vain. I do not determine how distinct and full this knowledge must be; but sure there must be so much knowledge of it, as will give the soul ground of hope, and, in expectation of salvation by this way, cause it turn its back upon all other ways, and account itself happy if it could once win here.

6. There must be a persuasion of the sufficiency, completeness and satisfactoriness of the way of salvation through this crucified Mediator, else the soul will not be induced to leave its other courses, and betake itself to this alone. He must be sure that salvation is only to be had this way, and that undoubtedly it will be had this way, that so with confidence he may cast himself over on this way, and sweetly sing of a noble outgate. And therefore he must believe, that Christ is really God as well as man, and a true man as well as God; that he is fully furnished for the work of redemption, having the Spirit given to him without measure; and endued fully and richly with all qualifications fitting for all our necessities, and enabling him to "save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him," Heb. vii. 25; that "he is made of God to us wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification," 1 Cor. i. 30; that "all power in heaven and in earth is given unto him," Matt. xxviii. 18; that "all things are put under his feet;" and that "he is given to be Head over all things to the church," Eph. i. 22; that "in him dwelleth all fulness," Col. i. 19; that "in him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," Col. ii. 3; yea, "that in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily;" so that we are "complete in him, who is the head of all principality and power," verses 9, 10.

7. The soul must know that he is not only an able and all-sufficient Mediator, but that also he is willing and ready to redeem and save all that will come. For all the preceding particulars will but increase his sorrow and torment him more, so long as he supposeth, through ignorance and the suggestion of Satan, that he hath no part in that redemption, no access to it, no ground of hope of salvation by it. Therefore it is necessary that the soul conceive not only a possibility, but also a probability of help this way, and that the dispensation of the gospel of grace, and the promulgation and offer of these good news to him, speak out so much, that the patience of God waiting long, and his goodness renewing the offers, confirmeth this; that his serious pressing, his strong motives, on the one hand, and his sharp threatenings on the other; his reiterated commands, his ingeminated obtestations; his expressed sorrow and grief over such as would not come to him; his upbraiding and objurations of such as do obstinately refuse, and the like, put his willingness to save such as will come to him out of all question. Yea, his obviating of objections, and taking all excuses out of their mouth, maketh the case plain and manifest, so that such as will not come are left without excuse, and have no impediment lying in the way but their own unwillingness.

8. The man must know upon what terms and conditions Christ offereth himself in the gospel, viz. upon condition of accepting of him, believing in him, and resting upon him; and that no other way we can be made partakers of the good things purchased by Christ, but by accepting of him as he is offered in the gospel, that is to say, freely, "without price or money," Isa. lv. 1, absolutely without reservation, wholly, and for all ends, &c. For, till this be known, there will be no closing with Christ; and till there be a closing with Christ, there is no advantage to be had by him. The soul must be married to him as an husband, fixed to him as the branches to the tree, united to him as the members to the head, become one with him, "one spirit," 1 Cor. vi. 17. See John xv. 5. Eph. v. 30. The soul must close with him for all things, adhere to him upon all hazards, take him and the sharpest cross that followeth him. Now, I say, the soul must be acquainted with these conditions; for it must act deliberately and rationally here. Covenanting with Christ is a grave business, and requireth deliberation, posedness of soul, rational resolution, full purpose of heart, and satisfaction of soul, and therefore the man must be acquainted with the conditions of the new covenant.

9. There must be a satisfaction with the terms of the gospel, and the heart must actually close with Christ as he is offered in the gospel. The heart must open to him, and take him in, Rev. iii. 20. The soul must embrace and receive him, John i. 12. The man must take him as his Lord and Master, King, Priest, and Prophet; must give up himself to him as his leader and commander, and resolve to follow him in all things, and thus close a bargain with him; for, till this be done, there is no union with Christ, and, till there be an union with Christ, there is no partaking of the fruits of his redemption as to justification, no pardon, no acceptance, no access to the favour of God, nor peace nor joy in the Holy Ghost, no getting of the conscience sprinkled, nor no intimation of love or favour from God, &c.