one who stands in a middle office or capacity between two
differing parties, and has a power of transacting every thing between
them, and of reconciling them to each other. Hence a mediator between
God and man is one whose office properly is to mediate and transact
affairs between them relating to the favour of almighty God, and the
duty and happiness of man. No sooner had Adam transgressed the law of
God in paradise, and become a sinful creature, than the Almighty was
pleased in mercy to appoint a Mediator or Redeemer, who, in due time
should be born into the world, to make an atonement both for his
transgression, and for all the sins of men. This is what is justly
thought to be implied in the promise, that “the seed of the woman should
bruise the serpent’s head;” that is, that there should some time or
other be born, of the posterity of Eve, a Redeemer, who, by making
satisfaction for the sins of men, and reconciling them to the mercy of
almighty God, should by that means bruise the head of that old serpent,
the devil, who had beguiled our first parents into sin, and destroy his
empire and dominion among men. Thus it became a necessary part of Adam’s
religion after the fall, as well as that of his posterity after him, to
worship God through hope in this Mediator. To keep up the remembrance of
it God was pleased, at this time, to appoint sacrifices of expiation or
atonement for sin, to be observed through all succeeding generations,
till the Redeemer himself should come, who was to make the true and only
proper satisfaction and atonement.
The particular manner in which Christ interposed in the redemption of
the world, or his office as Mediator between God and man, is thus
represented to us in the Scripture. He is the light of the world, John
i; viii, 12; the revealer of the will of God in the most eminent sense.
He is a propitiatory sacrifice, Rom. iii, 25; v, 11; 1 Cor. v, 7; Eph.
v, 2; 1 John ii, 2; Matt. xxvi, 28; John i, 29, 36; and, as because of
his peculiar offering, of a merit transcending all others, he is styled
our High Priest. He was also described beforehand in the Old Testament,
under the same character of a priest, and an expiatory victim, Isa.
liii; Dan. ix, 24; Psa. cx, 4. And whereas it is objected, that all this
is merely by way of allusion to the sacrifices of the Mosaic law, the
Apostle on the contrary affirms, that the law was a shadow of good
things to come, and not the very image of the things,” Heb. x, 1; and
that the priests that offer gifts according to the law, serve unto the
example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God,
when he was about to make the tabernacle: for see, saith he, that thou
make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount,”
Heb. viii, 4, 5; that is, the Levitical priesthood was a shadow of the
priesthood of Christ; in like manner as the tabernacle made by Moses was
according to that showed him in the mount. The priesthood of Christ, and
the tabernacle in the mount, were the originals; of the former of which,
the Levitical priesthood was a type; and of the latter, the tabernacle
made by Moses was a copy. The doctrine of this epistle, then, plainly
is, that the legal sacrifices were allusions to the great atonement to
be made by the blood of Christ; and not that it was an allusion to
those. Nor can any thing be more express or determinate than the
following passage: It is not possible that the blood of bulls and of
goats should take away sin. Wherefore when he [Christ] cometh into the
world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering,” that is, of bulls and of
goats, thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me. Lo, I come
to do thy will, O God! By which will we are sanctified, through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all,” Heb. x, 4, 5, 7, 9,
10. And to add one passage more of the like kind: Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall
he appear the second time, without sin;” that is, without bearing sin,
as he did at his first coming, by being an offering for it; without
having our iniquities again laid upon him; without being any more a
sin-offering:--“And unto them that look for him shall he appear the
second time without sin unto salvation,” Heb. ix, 28. Nor do the
inspired writers at all confine themselves to this manner of speaking
concerning the satisfaction of Christ; but declare that there was an
efficacy in what he did and suffered for us, additional to and beyond
mere instruction and example. This they declare with great variety of
expression: that he suffered for sins, the just for the unjust,” 1 Peter
iii, 18; that he gave his life a ransom,” Matt. xx, 28; Mark x, 45; 1
Tim. ii, 6; that we are bought with a price,” 2 Pet. ii, 1; Rev. xiv, 4;
1 Cor. vi, 20; that he redeemed us with his blood,” redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us,” 1 Peter i, 19; Rev. v, 9;
Gal. iii, 13; that he is our advocate, intercessor, and propitiation,”
Heb. vii, 25; 1 John ii, 1, 2; that he was made perfect, through
sufferings; and being thus made perfect, he became the author of
salvation,” Heb. ii, 10; v, 9; that God was in Christ, reconciling the
world to himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them,” 2 Cor. v,
19; Rom. v, 10; Eph. ii, 16; and that through death he destroyed him
that had the power of death,” Heb. ii, 14. Christ, then, having thus
humbled himself, and become obedient to death, even the death of the
cross; God, also, hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is
above every name;” hath commanded us to pray in his name; constituted
him man’s advocate and intercessor; distributes his grace only through
him, and in honour of his death; hath given all things into his hands;
and hath committed all judgment unto him; that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow,” and that all men should honour the Son even as
they honour the Father,” Phil. ii, 8–10; John iii, 35; v, 22, 23.
All the offices of Christ, therefore, arise out of his gracious
appointment, and voluntary undertaking, to be the Mediator between God
and man;” between God offended, and man offending; and therefore under
the penalty of God’s violated law, which denounces death against every
transgressor. He is the _Prophet_ who came to teach us the extent and
danger of our offences, and the means which God had appointed for their
remission. He is the great _High Priest_ of our profession,” who, having
offered himself without spot to God,” has entered the holiest to make
intercession for us, and to present our prayers and services to God,
securing to them acceptance by virtue of his own merits. He is _King_,
ruling over the whole earth, for the maintenance and establishment and
enlargement of his church, and for the punishment of those who reject
his authority; and he is the final _Judge_ of the quick and the dead, to
whom is given the power of distributing the rewards and penalties of
eternity. See ATONEMENT and JESUS CHRIST.
There is an essential connection between the mediation of our Lord and
the covenant of grace. (See _Covenant_.) He is therefore called the
Mediator of a better covenant,” and of a new covenant.” The word μεσίτης
literally means a person in the middle,” between two parties; and the
fitness of there being a Mediator of the covenant of grace arises from
this, that the nature of the covenant implies that the two parties were
at variance. Those who hold the Socinian principles understand a
mediator to mean nothing more than a messenger sent from God to give
assurance of forgiveness to his offending creatures. Those who hold the
doctrine of the atonement understand, that Jesus is called the Mediator
of the new covenant, because he reconciles the two parties, by having
appeased the wrath of God which man had deserved, and by subduing that
enmity to God by which their hearts were alienated from him. It is plain
that this is being a mediator in the strict and proper sense of the
word; and there seems to be no reason for resting in a meaning less
proper and emphatical. This sense of the term _mediator_ coincides with
the meaning of another phrase applied to him, Heb. vii, 22, where he is
called κρείττονος διαθήκης ἔγγυος. If he is a Mediator in the last
sense, then he is also ἔγγυος, the _sponsor_, the _surety_, of the
covenant. He undertook, on the part of the supreme Lawgiver, that the
sins of those who repent shall be forgiven; and he fulfilled this
undertaking by offering, in their stead, a satisfaction to divine
justice. He undertook, on their part, that they should keep the terms of
the covenant; and he fulfils this undertaking by the influence of his
Spirit upon their hearts.
If a mediator be essential to the covenant of grace, and if all who have
been saved from the time of the first transgression were saved by that
covenant, it follows that the Mediator of the new covenant acted in that
character before he was manifested in the flesh. Hence the importance of
that doctrine respecting the person of Christ; that all the
communications which the Almighty condescended to hold with the human
race were carried on from the beginning by this person; that it is he
who spake to the patriarchs, who gave the law by Moses, and who is
called in the Old Testament, the angel of the covenant.” These views
open to us the full importance of a doctrine which manifestly unites in
one faith all who obtain deliverance from that condition; for, according
to this doctrine, not only did the virtue of the blood which he shed as
a priest extend to the ages past before his manifestation, but all the
intimations of the new covenant established in his blood were given by
him as the great Prophet, and the blessings of the covenant were applied
in every age by the Spirit, which he, as the King of his people, sends
forth. The Socinians, who consider Jesus as a mere man, having no
existence till he was born of Mary, necessarily reject the doctrine now
stated: and the church of Rome, although they admit the divinity of our
Saviour, yet, by the system which they hold with regard to the mediation
of Christ, agree with the Socinians in throwing out of the dispensations
of the grace of God that beautiful and complete unity which arises from
their having been conducted by one person. The church of Rome considers
Christ as Mediator only in respect of his human nature. As that nature
did not exist till he was born of Mary, they do not think it possible
that he could exercise the office of Mediator under the Old Testament;
and as they admit that a mediator is essential to the covenant of grace,
they believe that those who lived under the Old Testament, not enjoying
the benefit of his mediation, did not obtain complete remission of sins.
They suppose, therefore, that persons in former times who believed in a
Saviour that was to come, and who obtained justification with God by
this faith, were detained after death in a place of the infernal
regions, which received the name of _limbus patrum_; a kind of prison
where they did not endure punishment, but remained without partaking of
the joys of heaven, in earnest expectation of the coming of Christ, who,
after suffering on the cross, descended to hell that he might set them
free. This fanciful system has no other foundation than the slender
support which it appears to receive from some obscure passages of
Scripture that admit of another interpretation. But if Christ acted as
the Mediator of the covenant of grace from the time of the first
transgression, this system becomes wholly unnecessary; and we may
believe, according to the general strain of Scripture, and what we
account the analogy of faith, that all who died in faith,” since the
world began, entered immediately after death into that heavenly country
which they desired.”
Although the members of the church of Rome adopt the language of
Scripture, in which Jesus is styled the Mediator of the new covenant,
they differ from all Protestants in acknowledging other mediators; and
the use which they make of the doctrine that Christ is Mediator only in
his human nature is to justify their admitting those who had no other
nature to share that office with him. Saints, martyrs, and especially
the Virgin Mary, are called _mediatores secundarii_, because it is
conceived that they hold this character under Christ, and that, by
virtue of his mediation, the superfluity of their merits may be applied
to procure acceptance with God for our imperfect services. Under this
character, supplications and solemn addresses are presented to them; and
the _mediatores secundarii_ receive in the church of Rome, not only the
honour due to eminent virtue, but a worship and homage which that church
wishes to vindicate from the charge of idolatry, by calling it the same
kind of inferior and secondary worship which is offered to the man
Christ Jesus, who in his human nature acted as Mediator. In opposition
to all this, we hold that Jesus Christ was qualified to act as Mediator
by the union between his divine and his human nature; that his divine
nature gave an infinite value to all that he did, rendering it effectual
for the purpose of reconciling us to God, while the condescension by
which he approached to man, in taking part of flesh and blood, fulfilled
the gracious intention for which a Mediator was appointed; that the
introducing any other mediator is unnecessary, derives no warrant from
Scripture, and is derogatory to the honour of him who is there called
the one Mediator between God and men;” and that as the union of the
divine to the human nature is the foundation of that worship which in
Scripture is often paid to the Mediator of the new covenant, this
worship does not afford the smallest countenance to the idolatry and
will worship of those who ascribe divine honours to any mortal.
differing parties, and has a power of transacting every thing between
them, and of reconciling them to each other. Hence a mediator between
God and man is one whose office properly is to mediate and transact
affairs between them relating to the favour of almighty God, and the
duty and happiness of man. No sooner had Adam transgressed the law of
God in paradise, and become a sinful creature, than the Almighty was
pleased in mercy to appoint a Mediator or Redeemer, who, in due time
should be born into the world, to make an atonement both for his
transgression, and for all the sins of men. This is what is justly
thought to be implied in the promise, that “the seed of the woman should
bruise the serpent’s head;” that is, that there should some time or
other be born, of the posterity of Eve, a Redeemer, who, by making
satisfaction for the sins of men, and reconciling them to the mercy of
almighty God, should by that means bruise the head of that old serpent,
the devil, who had beguiled our first parents into sin, and destroy his
empire and dominion among men. Thus it became a necessary part of Adam’s
religion after the fall, as well as that of his posterity after him, to
worship God through hope in this Mediator. To keep up the remembrance of
it God was pleased, at this time, to appoint sacrifices of expiation or
atonement for sin, to be observed through all succeeding generations,
till the Redeemer himself should come, who was to make the true and only
proper satisfaction and atonement.
The particular manner in which Christ interposed in the redemption of
the world, or his office as Mediator between God and man, is thus
represented to us in the Scripture. He is the light of the world, John
i; viii, 12; the revealer of the will of God in the most eminent sense.
He is a propitiatory sacrifice, Rom. iii, 25; v, 11; 1 Cor. v, 7; Eph.
v, 2; 1 John ii, 2; Matt. xxvi, 28; John i, 29, 36; and, as because of
his peculiar offering, of a merit transcending all others, he is styled
our High Priest. He was also described beforehand in the Old Testament,
under the same character of a priest, and an expiatory victim, Isa.
liii; Dan. ix, 24; Psa. cx, 4. And whereas it is objected, that all this
is merely by way of allusion to the sacrifices of the Mosaic law, the
Apostle on the contrary affirms, that the law was a shadow of good
things to come, and not the very image of the things,” Heb. x, 1; and
that the priests that offer gifts according to the law, serve unto the
example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God,
when he was about to make the tabernacle: for see, saith he, that thou
make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount,”
Heb. viii, 4, 5; that is, the Levitical priesthood was a shadow of the
priesthood of Christ; in like manner as the tabernacle made by Moses was
according to that showed him in the mount. The priesthood of Christ, and
the tabernacle in the mount, were the originals; of the former of which,
the Levitical priesthood was a type; and of the latter, the tabernacle
made by Moses was a copy. The doctrine of this epistle, then, plainly
is, that the legal sacrifices were allusions to the great atonement to
be made by the blood of Christ; and not that it was an allusion to
those. Nor can any thing be more express or determinate than the
following passage: It is not possible that the blood of bulls and of
goats should take away sin. Wherefore when he [Christ] cometh into the
world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering,” that is, of bulls and of
goats, thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me. Lo, I come
to do thy will, O God! By which will we are sanctified, through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all,” Heb. x, 4, 5, 7, 9,
10. And to add one passage more of the like kind: Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall
he appear the second time, without sin;” that is, without bearing sin,
as he did at his first coming, by being an offering for it; without
having our iniquities again laid upon him; without being any more a
sin-offering:--“And unto them that look for him shall he appear the
second time without sin unto salvation,” Heb. ix, 28. Nor do the
inspired writers at all confine themselves to this manner of speaking
concerning the satisfaction of Christ; but declare that there was an
efficacy in what he did and suffered for us, additional to and beyond
mere instruction and example. This they declare with great variety of
expression: that he suffered for sins, the just for the unjust,” 1 Peter
iii, 18; that he gave his life a ransom,” Matt. xx, 28; Mark x, 45; 1
Tim. ii, 6; that we are bought with a price,” 2 Pet. ii, 1; Rev. xiv, 4;
1 Cor. vi, 20; that he redeemed us with his blood,” redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us,” 1 Peter i, 19; Rev. v, 9;
Gal. iii, 13; that he is our advocate, intercessor, and propitiation,”
Heb. vii, 25; 1 John ii, 1, 2; that he was made perfect, through
sufferings; and being thus made perfect, he became the author of
salvation,” Heb. ii, 10; v, 9; that God was in Christ, reconciling the
world to himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them,” 2 Cor. v,
19; Rom. v, 10; Eph. ii, 16; and that through death he destroyed him
that had the power of death,” Heb. ii, 14. Christ, then, having thus
humbled himself, and become obedient to death, even the death of the
cross; God, also, hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is
above every name;” hath commanded us to pray in his name; constituted
him man’s advocate and intercessor; distributes his grace only through
him, and in honour of his death; hath given all things into his hands;
and hath committed all judgment unto him; that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow,” and that all men should honour the Son even as
they honour the Father,” Phil. ii, 8–10; John iii, 35; v, 22, 23.
All the offices of Christ, therefore, arise out of his gracious
appointment, and voluntary undertaking, to be the Mediator between God
and man;” between God offended, and man offending; and therefore under
the penalty of God’s violated law, which denounces death against every
transgressor. He is the _Prophet_ who came to teach us the extent and
danger of our offences, and the means which God had appointed for their
remission. He is the great _High Priest_ of our profession,” who, having
offered himself without spot to God,” has entered the holiest to make
intercession for us, and to present our prayers and services to God,
securing to them acceptance by virtue of his own merits. He is _King_,
ruling over the whole earth, for the maintenance and establishment and
enlargement of his church, and for the punishment of those who reject
his authority; and he is the final _Judge_ of the quick and the dead, to
whom is given the power of distributing the rewards and penalties of
eternity. See ATONEMENT and JESUS CHRIST.
There is an essential connection between the mediation of our Lord and
the covenant of grace. (See _Covenant_.) He is therefore called the
Mediator of a better covenant,” and of a new covenant.” The word μεσίτης
literally means a person in the middle,” between two parties; and the
fitness of there being a Mediator of the covenant of grace arises from
this, that the nature of the covenant implies that the two parties were
at variance. Those who hold the Socinian principles understand a
mediator to mean nothing more than a messenger sent from God to give
assurance of forgiveness to his offending creatures. Those who hold the
doctrine of the atonement understand, that Jesus is called the Mediator
of the new covenant, because he reconciles the two parties, by having
appeased the wrath of God which man had deserved, and by subduing that
enmity to God by which their hearts were alienated from him. It is plain
that this is being a mediator in the strict and proper sense of the
word; and there seems to be no reason for resting in a meaning less
proper and emphatical. This sense of the term _mediator_ coincides with
the meaning of another phrase applied to him, Heb. vii, 22, where he is
called κρείττονος διαθήκης ἔγγυος. If he is a Mediator in the last
sense, then he is also ἔγγυος, the _sponsor_, the _surety_, of the
covenant. He undertook, on the part of the supreme Lawgiver, that the
sins of those who repent shall be forgiven; and he fulfilled this
undertaking by offering, in their stead, a satisfaction to divine
justice. He undertook, on their part, that they should keep the terms of
the covenant; and he fulfils this undertaking by the influence of his
Spirit upon their hearts.
If a mediator be essential to the covenant of grace, and if all who have
been saved from the time of the first transgression were saved by that
covenant, it follows that the Mediator of the new covenant acted in that
character before he was manifested in the flesh. Hence the importance of
that doctrine respecting the person of Christ; that all the
communications which the Almighty condescended to hold with the human
race were carried on from the beginning by this person; that it is he
who spake to the patriarchs, who gave the law by Moses, and who is
called in the Old Testament, the angel of the covenant.” These views
open to us the full importance of a doctrine which manifestly unites in
one faith all who obtain deliverance from that condition; for, according
to this doctrine, not only did the virtue of the blood which he shed as
a priest extend to the ages past before his manifestation, but all the
intimations of the new covenant established in his blood were given by
him as the great Prophet, and the blessings of the covenant were applied
in every age by the Spirit, which he, as the King of his people, sends
forth. The Socinians, who consider Jesus as a mere man, having no
existence till he was born of Mary, necessarily reject the doctrine now
stated: and the church of Rome, although they admit the divinity of our
Saviour, yet, by the system which they hold with regard to the mediation
of Christ, agree with the Socinians in throwing out of the dispensations
of the grace of God that beautiful and complete unity which arises from
their having been conducted by one person. The church of Rome considers
Christ as Mediator only in respect of his human nature. As that nature
did not exist till he was born of Mary, they do not think it possible
that he could exercise the office of Mediator under the Old Testament;
and as they admit that a mediator is essential to the covenant of grace,
they believe that those who lived under the Old Testament, not enjoying
the benefit of his mediation, did not obtain complete remission of sins.
They suppose, therefore, that persons in former times who believed in a
Saviour that was to come, and who obtained justification with God by
this faith, were detained after death in a place of the infernal
regions, which received the name of _limbus patrum_; a kind of prison
where they did not endure punishment, but remained without partaking of
the joys of heaven, in earnest expectation of the coming of Christ, who,
after suffering on the cross, descended to hell that he might set them
free. This fanciful system has no other foundation than the slender
support which it appears to receive from some obscure passages of
Scripture that admit of another interpretation. But if Christ acted as
the Mediator of the covenant of grace from the time of the first
transgression, this system becomes wholly unnecessary; and we may
believe, according to the general strain of Scripture, and what we
account the analogy of faith, that all who died in faith,” since the
world began, entered immediately after death into that heavenly country
which they desired.”
Although the members of the church of Rome adopt the language of
Scripture, in which Jesus is styled the Mediator of the new covenant,
they differ from all Protestants in acknowledging other mediators; and
the use which they make of the doctrine that Christ is Mediator only in
his human nature is to justify their admitting those who had no other
nature to share that office with him. Saints, martyrs, and especially
the Virgin Mary, are called _mediatores secundarii_, because it is
conceived that they hold this character under Christ, and that, by
virtue of his mediation, the superfluity of their merits may be applied
to procure acceptance with God for our imperfect services. Under this
character, supplications and solemn addresses are presented to them; and
the _mediatores secundarii_ receive in the church of Rome, not only the
honour due to eminent virtue, but a worship and homage which that church
wishes to vindicate from the charge of idolatry, by calling it the same
kind of inferior and secondary worship which is offered to the man
Christ Jesus, who in his human nature acted as Mediator. In opposition
to all this, we hold that Jesus Christ was qualified to act as Mediator
by the union between his divine and his human nature; that his divine
nature gave an infinite value to all that he did, rendering it effectual
for the purpose of reconciling us to God, while the condescension by
which he approached to man, in taking part of flesh and blood, fulfilled
the gracious intention for which a Mediator was appointed; that the
introducing any other mediator is unnecessary, derives no warrant from
Scripture, and is derogatory to the honour of him who is there called
the one Mediator between God and men;” and that as the union of the
divine to the human nature is the foundation of that worship which in
Scripture is often paid to the Mediator of the new covenant, this
worship does not afford the smallest countenance to the idolatry and
will worship of those who ascribe divine honours to any mortal.