Chapter 7

Our first reason is taken from that powerful union which the Scripture makes of both these, almost always joining, section 1, them together, and so manifesting those things to be most inseparable, which are looked upon as the distinct fruits and effects of them. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many for he shall bear their iniquities (Isaiah 53:11): the actual justification of sinners, the immediate fruit of his Intercession, certainly follows his bearing of their iniquities. And in the next verse, they are of God so put together, that surely none ought to presume to put them asunder; he bore the sin of many (behold his oblation) and made intercession for the transgressors: even for those many transgressors, whose sin he bears. And there is one expression in that chapter (verse 5) which makes it evident, that the utmost Application of all good things for which he Intercedes, is the immediate effect of his passion, for by his stripes we are healed: our total healing, is the fruit and procurement of his stripes, or the oblation consummated thereby. So also (Romans 4:25): he was delivered for our offenses, and rose again for our justification; for whose offenses he died, for their justification he rose: and therefore if he died for all, all must also be justified, or the Lord fails in his aim and design, both in the death and resurrection of his Son, which though some have boldly affirmed, yet for my part I cannot but abhor the owning of so blasphemous a fancy. Rather let us close with that of the Apostle, grounding the assurance of our eternal glory, and freedom from all accusations, upon the death of Christ, and that because his intercession also for us does inseparably and necessarily follow it; Who (said he) shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect, (it seems also that it is only they for whom Christ died) it is God that justifies; who is he that condemns? It is Christ that died: (shall none then be condemned for whom Christ died? what then becomes of the general ransom?) yes rather who is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us (Romans 8:33-34). Here is an equal extent of the one, and the other: those persons who are concerned in the one, are all of them concerned in the other. That he died for all, and intercedes only for some, will scarcely be squared to this text, especially considering the foundation of all this which is (verse 32): that love of God, which moved him to give up Christ to death, for us all, upon which the Apostle infers a kind of impossibility in not giving us all good things in him, which how it can be reconciled with their opinion, who affirm that he gave his Son for millions, to whom he will give neither grace nor glory, I cannot see. But we rest in that of the same Apostle, when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly, so that being justified by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath by him (Romans 5:6, 9). The same union between the oblation and intercession of Christ, with their fruits and effects, being intimated in very many other places.

To offer and to intercede, to sacrifice and to pray, are both acts of the same priestly office, and both required in him, section 2, who is a Priest, so that if he omits either of these, he cannot be a faithful Priest for them; if either he does not offer for them, or not intercede for the access of his oblation on their behalf, he is wanting in the discharge of his office by him undertaken. Both these we find conjoined (as before) in Jesus Christ (1 John 2:1-2): if any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is a propitiation for our sins: he must be an advocate to intercede, as well as offer a propitiatory sacrifice, if he will be such a merciful High Priest over the house of God, as that the children should be encouraged to go to God by him. This the Apostle exceedingly clarifies, and evidently proves in the Epistle to the Hebrews describing the Priesthood of Christ in the execution thereof, of offering up himself in, and by the shedding of his blood, and interceding for us to the uttermost; upon the performance of both which, he presses an exhortation to draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, for, he has come a High Priest of good things to come, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered into the holy place, having obtained for us eternal redemption (chapter 9:11-12). His bloody oblation, gave him entrance into the holy place not made with hands, there to accomplish the remaining part of his office: the Apostle comparing his entrance into heaven for us, with the entrance of the High Priest into the holy place, with the blood of bulls and goats upon him (verses 12-13) (which doubtless was to pray for them in whose behalf he had offered, verse 1), so presenting himself before his Father that his former oblation might have its efficacy: and hence he is said to have an unchangeable priesthood because he continues forever (Hebrews 7:24), so being able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by him, therefore we have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus (chapter 10:19-22). So then it is evident that both these are acts of the same priestly office in Christ, and if he performs either of them for any; he must of necessity perform the other for them also: for he will not exercise any act or duty of his priestly function in their behalf, for whom he is not a Priest. And for whom he is a priest, he must perform both, seeing he is faithful in the discharge of his function to the uttermost, in the behalf of the sinners for whom he undertakes. These two then, Oblation and Intercession, must in respect of their objects be of equal extent, and can by no means be separated. And here by the way (the thing being by this argument in my apprehension made so clear) I cannot but demand of those who oppose us about the death of Christ, whether they will maintain that he intercedes for all or not; if not, then they make him but half a Priest; if they will, they must be necessitated either to defend this error, that all shall be saved; or own this blasphemy that Christ is not heard of his Father, nor can prevail in his Intercession; which yet the saints on earth are sure to do, when they make their supplications according to the will of God (Romans 8): besides that of our Savior, it is expressly said that the Father always hears him (John 11:42). And if that were true, when he was yet in the way, in the days of his flesh, and had not finished the great work he was sent about, how much more then now, when having done the will, and finished the work of God, he is set down on the right hand of majesty on high, desiring and requesting the accomplishing of the promises that were made unto him upon his undertaking this work, of which before.

The nature of the intercession of Christ, will also prove no, section 3, less than what we assert, requiring an inseparable conjunction, between it, and his oblation; for as it is now perfected in heaven, it is not a humble dejection of himself, with cries, tears and supplications, nay it cannot be conceived to be vocal, by the way of entreaty, but merely real, by the presentation of himself sprinkled with the blood of the Covenant before the throne of Grace in our behalf. For Christ (said the Apostle) is not entered into the holy place made with hands, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us (Hebrews 9:24). His Intercession there, is an appearing for us in heaven in the presence of God, a demonstration of his sacred body, wherein for us he suffered. For (as we said before) the Apostle in the ninth chapter to the Hebrews compares his entrance into heaven for us, unto the entrance of the High Priest into the holy place, which was with the blood of bulls and goats upon him (verses 12-13), our Savior's being with his own blood, so presenting himself, that his former oblation might have its perpetual efficacy, until the many sons given unto him are brought to glory. And herein his Intercession consists, being nothing (as it were) but his oblation continued. He was a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8); now his Intercession before his actual oblation in the fullness of times, being nothing but a presenting of the engagement that was upon him for the work in due time to be accomplished, certainly that which follows it, is nothing but a presenting of what according to that engagement is fulfilled, so that it is nothing but a continuation of his oblation, in postulating by remembrance and declaration of it, those things which by it were procured. How then is it possible, that the one of these should be of larger compass and extent than the other? Can he be said to offer for them for whom he does not intercede when his Intercession is nothing but a presenting of his oblation in the behalf of them for whom he suffered, and for the bestowing of those good things which by that were purchased.

Again if the Oblation and death of Christ procured and obtained that every good thing should be bestowed, which is actually, section 4, conferred by the intervening of his Intercession, then they have both of them the same aim, and are both means tending to one and the same end. Now for the proof of this assumption, we must remember that which we delivered before, concerning the compact and agreement, that was between the Father and his Son, upon his voluntary engaging of himself unto this great work of redemption: for upon that engagement the Lord proposed unto him as the end of his sufferings, and promised unto him as the reward of his labors, the fruit of his deservings, everything which he afterwards intercedes for. Many particulars I before instanced in, and therefore now to avoid repetition will wholly omit them, referring the Reader to Chapter 3 for satisfaction. Only I shall demand, what is the ground and foundation of our Savior's Intercession, understanding it to be by the way of entreaty, either virtual or formal, as it may be conceived to be either real or oral, for the obtaining of anything, must it not rest upon some promise made unto him? Or is there any good bestowed, that is not promised? Is it not apparent that the intercession of Christ does rest on such a promise, as (Psalm 2:8): Ask of me and I will grant you the nations to be your inheritance, etc.? Now upon what consideration was this promise and engagement made unto our Savior, was it not for his undergoing of that about which the Kings set themselves, and the Rulers took counsel together against him (verse 3), which the Apostles interpret of Herod and Pontius Pilate with the people of the Jews, prosecuting him to death, and doing to him whatsoever the hand and counsel of God had before determined should be done (Acts 4:27-28)? The intercession of Christ then, being founded on promises made unto him, and these promises being nothing but an engagement to bestow, and actually bestow upon them for whom he suffered, all those good things which his death and Oblation did merit, and purchase, it cannot be but that he intercedes for all, for whom he died, that his death procured all and every thing, which upon his Intercession is bestowed, and until they are bestowed, it has not its full fruits and effects. For that which some say, namely, that the death of Christ does procure that which is never granted, we shall see afterwards, whether it does not contradict Scripture, yes and common sense.

Further, what Christ has put together, let no man presume to put asunder, distinguish between them they may, but separate, section 5, them they may not. Now these things concerning which we treat (the oblation and intercession of Christ) are by himself conjoined, yes united (John 17), for there, and then he did both offer and intercede, he did then as perfectly offer himself in respect of his own will and intention (verse 9) as on the cross: and as perfectly intercede as now in heaven, who then can divide these things, or put them asunder? Especially considering that the Scripture affirms that the one of them without the other would have been unprofitable (1 Corinthians 15:17), for complete remission and redemption could not be obtained for us without the entering of our high priest into the most holy place (Hebrews 9:12).

Lastly, a separating and dividing of the death and intercession of Christ, in respect of the objects of them, cuts off all that consolation, section 6, which any soul might hope to attain by an assurance that Christ died for him. That the doctrine of the general ransom is an uncomfortable doctrine, cutting all the nerves and sinews of that strong consolation which God is so abundantly willing that we should receive, shall be afterwards declared: for the present I will only show, how it tends upon our comfort in this particular, the main foundation of all the confidence and assurance whereof in this life, we may be made partakers, (which amounts to joy unspeakable, and full of glory) arises from this strict connection of the oblation and intercession of Jesus Christ, that by the one he has procured all good things for us, and by the other he will procure them to be actually bestowed; whereby he does never leave our sins but follows them into every court, until they be fully pardoned, and clearly expiated (Hebrews 9:26). He will never leave us until he has saved, to the uttermost, them that come unto God by him: his death without his resurrection would have profited us nothing, all our faith in him had been in vain (1 Corinthians 15), so that separated from it with the Intercession following, either in his own intention, or in the several procurements of the one or the other, it will yield us but little consolation, but in this connection it is a sure foundation for a soul to build upon (Hebrews 7:25). What good will it do me to be persuaded that Christ died for my sins, if, notwithstanding that, my sins may appear against me for my condemnation, where? And when Christ will not appear for my justification? If you will ask with the Apostle, who is he that condemns, it is Christ that died? (Romans 8:34). It may easily be answered; why, God by his Law may condemn me, notwithstanding Christ dying for me! Yes but said the Apostle, he is risen again, and sits at the right hand of God, making intercession for us, he rests not in his death, but he will certainly make intercession for them, for whom he died, and this alone gives firm consolation, our sins dare not appear, nor any of our accusers against us, where he appears for us. Caviling objections against this text, shall be afterwards considered, and so I hope I have sufficiently confirmed and proved what in the beginning of this Chapter I did propose, about the identity of the object of the oblation, and intercession of Jesus Christ.

Our first argument is drawn from the powerful way Scripture joins Christ's oblation and intercession together — almost always linking them, and thereby showing that what are considered their distinct fruits and effects are in fact utterly inseparable. "By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities" (Isaiah 53:11). The actual justification of sinners — the immediate fruit of His intercession — certainly follows His bearing of their iniquities. In the very next verse, the two are so closely joined by God that surely no one should presume to separate them: "He Himself bore the sin of many" — that is His oblation — "and interceded for the transgressors." The intercession is for those same many transgressors whose sin He bore. And one statement in that same chapter (verse 5) makes it clear that the full application of all good things for which He intercedes is the immediate effect of His suffering: "By His scourging we are healed." Our complete healing is the fruit and result of His stripes — the oblation brought to its completion. So also in Romans 4:25: He was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification. For whose transgressions He died, for their justification He rose. Therefore, if He died for all, all must also be justified — or God failed in His aim and design in both the death and resurrection of His Son. Some have boldly claimed this, but for my part I cannot do anything but recoil from embracing such a blasphemous notion. Let us rather hold to the apostle's argument, which grounds the certainty of our eternal glory and freedom from all accusation on the death of Christ — because His intercession for us inseparably and necessarily follows it. "Who will bring a charge against God's elect?" — it appears that only those for whom Christ died are included here. "God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? It is Christ Jesus who died" — will then none be condemned for whom Christ died? What becomes then of the general ransom? — "yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us" (Romans 8:33-34). Here the scope of the one is equal to the scope of the other. Every person involved in the one is equally involved in the other. The claim that He died for all but intercedes only for some will hardly fit this text — especially when you consider the foundation of it all in verse 32: the love of God that moved Him to hand Christ over to death for us all, from which the apostle infers that withholding any good thing from us would be almost unthinkable. How this can be reconciled with the view that God gave His Son for millions to whom He will give neither grace nor glory, I cannot see. We rest instead in the words of the same apostle: "While we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly," and "having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him" (Romans 5:6, 9). The same inseparable union between Christ's oblation and intercession — along with their fruits and effects — is suggested in many other passages as well.

To offer and to intercede, to sacrifice and to pray — both are acts of the same priestly office, and both are required of a priest. If he omits either, he cannot be a faithful priest for those he serves. If he fails either to offer for them or to intercede for the application of His oblation on their behalf, He falls short in the discharge of the office He undertook. We find both united in Jesus Christ in 1 John 2:1-2: "If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins." He must be both an advocate who intercedes and one who offers a propitiatory sacrifice, if He is to be the kind of merciful High Priest over God's household who encourages His children to approach God through Him. The apostle makes this especially clear in the letter to the Hebrews, describing the priesthood of Christ in action — offering Himself through the shedding of His blood, and interceding for us to the uttermost. On the basis of both, the apostle urges us to draw near with confidence to the throne of grace. Christ came as a high priest of the good things to come, and through His own blood — not the blood of goats and calves — He entered the holy place once for all, having secured eternal redemption for us (Hebrews 9:11-12). His bloody oblation gave Him entrance into the holy place not made with human hands, where He would complete the remaining part of His office. The apostle compares His entry into heaven for us with the entry of the high priest into the most holy place carrying the blood of bulls and goats (verses 12-13) — which was, beyond doubt, accompanied by prayer for those on whose behalf he had offered (verse 1). In the same way, Christ presents Himself before His Father so that His former oblation might have its full effect. This is why He is said to hold His priesthood permanently, because He lives forever (Hebrews 7:24), and is therefore able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him. Therefore we have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 10:19-22). It is clear, then, that both are acts of the same priestly office in Christ. If He performs either for anyone, He must necessarily perform the other for them as well. He will not carry out any act or duty of His priestly function for those for whom He is not a priest. For all those for whom He is priest, He must perform both — since He is faithful to the uttermost in discharging His function on behalf of the sinners for whom He intercedes. Oblation and intercession must therefore be equal in their scope and cannot in any way be separated. On this point — the matter being so clear from this argument, in my estimation — I must ask those who oppose us on the death of Christ: do they maintain that He intercedes for all, or not? If not, they make Him only half a priest. If they do maintain it, they are forced to defend either the error that all will be saved, or the blasphemy that Christ is not heard by His Father and cannot prevail in His intercession — when even the saints on earth are assured of being heard when they pray according to the will of God (Romans 8). And of our Savior it is expressly said that the Father always hears Him (John 11:42). If this was true when He was still on His way, in the days of His flesh, and had not yet finished the great work He was sent to accomplish — how much more is it true now, when having done God's will and finished God's work, He is seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high, asking for the fulfillment of the promises made to Him when He undertook this work, as described earlier.

The very nature of Christ's intercession also confirms what we assert, requiring an inseparable connection between it and His oblation. In its perfected form in heaven, His intercession is not a humble prostration with cries, tears, and pleading. It cannot even be conceived of as something spoken by way of entreaty. Rather it is purely a real presentation — a presentation of Himself, sprinkled with the blood of the covenant, before the throne of grace on our behalf. "Christ has not entered a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us" (Hebrews 9:24). His intercession there consists in appearing for us before God in heaven — in presenting His sacred body, the body in which He suffered for us. As we noted earlier, the apostle in Hebrews 9 compares Christ's entry into heaven for us with the entry of the high priest into the most holy place, carrying the blood of bulls and goats (verses 12-13). Our Savior enters with His own blood, presenting Himself so that His former oblation might have its perpetual effect until all the many sons given to Him are brought to glory. His intercession consists precisely in this — it is, in essence, nothing but His oblation continued. He was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). His intercession before His actual oblation in the fullness of time was nothing but a presentation of the commitment He had taken on, to be fulfilled in due time. Certainly, then, what follows His oblation is nothing but a presentation of what that commitment has now accomplished. His intercession is simply the continuation of His oblation — calling upon the Father, by the remembrance and declaration of what was done, for the things that were purchased by it. How then is it possible for the scope of one to be greater than the scope of the other? Can He be said to have offered for those for whom He does not intercede, when His intercession is simply a presenting of His oblation on behalf of those for whom He suffered, and for the bestowing of those good things that were purchased by it?

Furthermore, if the oblation and death of Christ secured and obtained that every good thing would be bestowed — things that are actually conferred through His intercession — then both are aimed at the same goal and are both means directed toward the same end. To support this, we need to recall what was said earlier about the agreement between the Father and the Son upon Christ's voluntary undertaking of the work of redemption. At the time of that agreement, the Lord set before His Son as the end of His sufferings, and promised to Him as the reward of His labors, everything that He afterward intercedes for. I gave many particulars earlier and will not repeat them here, but refer the reader to Chapter 3 for the details. I will only ask: what is the foundation of our Savior's intercession? Whether we conceive of it as virtually or formally by way of entreaty — whether real or verbal — must it not rest on some promise made to Him? Is there any good thing bestowed that is not first promised? Is it not plain that Christ's intercession rests on such a promise as Psalm 2:8: "Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance"? And on what basis was this promise and commitment made to our Savior? Was it not because of His undergoing what the kings of the earth set themselves against, and what the rulers plotted together to do to Him (verse 2) — which the apostles interpret as Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the people of the Jews, pursuing Him to death and doing to Him whatever God's hand and counsel had already determined should happen (Acts 4:27-28)? Christ's intercession, therefore, is founded on promises made to Him. These promises are simply a commitment to bestow — and to actually bestow — on those for whom He suffered all the good things His death and oblation merited and purchased. It follows necessarily that He intercedes for all for whom He died, that His death secured everything that is bestowed through His intercession, and that until those things are bestowed, His death has not yet produced its full fruits and effects. As for the claim that the death of Christ obtains something that is never actually granted — we will see in due course whether this does not contradict both Scripture and common sense.

Moreover, what Christ has joined together, no one should presume to separate. They may be distinguished, but they must not be divided. These two things — the oblation and intercession of Christ — are joined together by Christ Himself, yes, united (John 17). There, and at that moment, He both offered and interceded. His offering of Himself in that prayer was as complete, in terms of His own will and intention (verse 19), as it was on the cross. And His intercession there was as complete as it is now in heaven. Who then can divide these or put them apart? Especially since Scripture declares that without the other, each one alone would have been of no profit (1 Corinthians 15:17). Complete forgiveness and redemption could not be obtained for us without our high priest entering the most holy place (Hebrews 9:12).

Finally, dividing the death and intercession of Christ in terms of their objects cuts off all the comfort any soul might hope to gain from the assurance that Christ died for them. That the doctrine of the general ransom is an uncomfortable doctrine — draining away all the strength of the strong comfort God is so abundantly willing for us to receive — will be demonstrated later. For now I will only show how it affects our comfort in this particular. The main foundation of all the confidence and assurance we may have in this life — amounting to joy inexpressible and full of glory — arises from the tight connection between Christ's oblation and intercession. Through the one He secured all good things for us; through the other He ensures they are actually bestowed. He never leaves our sins unaddressed but pursues them through every court until they are fully pardoned and completely expiated (Hebrews 9:26). He will not rest until He has saved to the uttermost those who come to God through Him. His death without His resurrection would have profited us nothing — all our faith would have been meaningless (1 Corinthians 15). So if His death is separated — either in His own intention or in what each one separately secures — from His resurrection and the intercession that follows it, it yields very little comfort. But in their connection, it is a sure foundation for a soul to build on (Hebrews 7:25). What good does it do me to be persuaded that Christ died for my sins, if, in spite of that, my sins may still appear against me for my condemnation? What good, if Christ will not appear for my justification? If you ask with the apostle, "Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died" (Romans 8:34), the answer could come easily: God through His law may still condemn me, in spite of Christ's dying for me! But the apostle continues: He is also risen, He sits at the right hand of God making intercession for us. He does not rest in His death alone — He will certainly intercede for those for whom He died. And this alone gives firm comfort. Our sins dare not appear against us, nor any accuser, where He appears for us. Objections raised against this passage will be addressed later. I hope I have now sufficiently proved the point proposed at the beginning of this chapter: that the object of Christ's oblation and the object of His intercession are one and the same.