Wesley Corpus

(1) Christ hath acquired for us a right to eternal life by His satisfaction and merits alone. Neither our repentance nor amendment can be any satisfaction for sin. It is only ‘through His blood that we have redemption’ (Eph. i. 7). This alone ‘cleanseth us from all sin’ (I John i. 7). And herein ‘was the love of God manifested towards us, that He sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins’ (1 John iv. 9-10). So was the Lord ‘our righteousness’ (Jer. xxiii. 6); without which we could not have been justified. As man owed his Creator the perfect obedience of his whole life or a punishment proportioned to his transgression, it was impossible he could satisfy Him by a partial and imperfect obedience. Neither could he merit anything from Him to whom he owed all things. There was need, therefore, of a Mediator who could repair the immense wrong he had done to the Divine Majesty, satisfy the Supreme Judge, who had pronounced the sentence of death against the transgressors of His law, suffer in the place of His people, and merit for them pardon, holiness, and glory. Accordingly ‘He gave Himself a ransom for all’ (1 Tim. ii. 6), and ‘by Himself purged our sins ' (Heb. i. 3). ‘He loved us, and gave Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God’ (Eph. v. 2). So we read, God ‘raised Him from the dead; who was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification’: because our Surety's being discharged by the will and act of the Judge Himself is a full proof that He has paid our whole debt.