. . . how Christ was a curse, or accursed, who is the fountain of blessedness? Answer. He is not so by nature. For He is the natural Son of God. Not by His own fault, for He is the unspotted lamb of God. But by voluntary dispensation, and therefore Paul says, “He was made a curse.” And He was made a curse, first, because He was set apart in the eternal counsel of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost to be our redeemer and consequently to be a curse. In this regard, the Father is said to have “sealed” Him (John 6:27), and He is said again to be “preordained before all worlds” (1 Peter 1:20) and given “according to the counsel and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23). Secondly, He was made a curse in that He was in time consecrated to be our mediator and so a curse. And this consecration was first in His baptism, in which He put upon Him our guilt, as we put off the same in ours; and, secondly, on the cross and passion, in which He took unto Him the punishment of our sin. And thus was He made a curse. It may be objected that He is the Son of God, and therefore no curse. Answer. Christ must be considered as the Son of God, and again as our pledge and surety (Heb. 7:22). In the first respect He was not accursed, but in the second.

William Perkins | The Works of William Perkins, ed. Paul M. Smalley, Joel R. Beeke, and Derek W. H. Thomas, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2015), 180.

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Post authored by:

• Tony Phelps

  

  Tony grew up in Rhode Island. He was educated at BA (University of Rhode Island) and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He worked in the insurance industry for ten years. He planted a PCA church in Wakefield, RI where he served for eleven years. In 2015–18 he pastored Covenant Reformed Church (URCNA) in Colorado Springs. He is currently pastor of Living Hope (OPC). Tony is married to Donna and together they have three children.

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