Section 1: The Characters of Christ as Our Deliverer from the Sinfulness of Our Natures

First, let us take a very brief survey of this matter, as our Lord Jesus Christ delivers us from our sinful natures, or the power of sin that works in us, for he is our Sanctification as well as our Righteousness. 1 Corinthians 1:30.

Our blessed Savior in this respect is sometimes represented as our almighty Redeemer, who rescues us from the power of Satan, and of our own lusts, by the more powerful influences of his Spirit. He is our Sanctifier, who renews the image of God in us, which was lost by our first apostasy, and this he does by his sovereign creating power, for we are created anew to good works, in or by Christ Jesus. He is sometimes set forth as our Prophet, to give us light and the knowledge of God, and of the way of salvation, by the divine instructions of his Gospel. He is our Example to go before us, and to mark out for us the path of duty and holiness by his own footsteps, and to encourage our walking therein by his precedency, and so he is also our Forerunner to Heaven. Christ is also our King to give us laws and rules of life, and to rule in our hearts by giving us an inclination to obey his laws. By his royal power also in his exalted state, he subdues sin in us, he mortifies our unruly appetites and passions which are his enemies, he brings every power of our nature into obedience and subjection to himself. He fits us for the heavenly kingdom, and actually bestows upon us this final happiness. He is also represented in Scripture as our Vital Head, or head of spiritual life, and believers are his Members; and so his Spirit becomes the spring of spiritual life in us, renews our sinful nature, raises us from death in trespasses and sins, conveys a new and divine life to us, and will at last, by the same Spirit, raise our bodies from the dead to live forever with him.

Thus much concerning one branch of our salvation, (namely) the recovery of our nature from the sinfulness thereof, which I shall no longer insist upon here.