Had not Christ interposed to satisfy the justice of God, man upon his sin had been actually bound over to punishment, as well as the fallen angels were upon theirs, and been fettered in chains as strong as those spirits feel. The reason why man was not hurled into the same deplorable condition upon his sin, as they were, is Christ's promise of taking our nature, and not theirs. Had God designed Christ's taking their nature, the same patience had been exercised towards them, and the same offers would have been made to them, as are made to us. In regard of the fruits of his patience, Christ is said to buy the wickedest apostates from him: 2 Peter ii. 1 'Denying the Lord that bought them;' such were bought by him as 'bring upon themselves just destruction, and whose damnation slumbers not,' ver. 3; he purchased the continuance of their lives, and the stay of their execution, that offers of grace might be made to them.Stephen Charnock, "On God's Patience," in The Existence and Attributes of God (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996), 2:482.
Stephen Charnock, "On God's Patience," in The Works of Stephen Charnock (Edinburgh: James Nichol, 1864), 2:509.
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