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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A42685	The nature of justification opened in a sermon on Romans V. 1. By Mr. Gibbons, sometime preacher at Black-Fryers, London.	Gibbon, John, 1629-1718.	1695 (1695)	Wing G651; ESTC R216248	24,547	32

THE NATURE OF JUSTIFICATION OPENED IN A SERMON On ROMANS V. 1. BY Mr. GIBBONS sometime Preacher at Black-Fryers LONDON LONDON Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside near Mercer's Chappel 1695. The NATURE of Iustification opened ROMANS V. 1. Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God c. THE Words present us for the Argument of this Morning-Exercise with the great Doctrine of Justification first to be Opened and then Improved 1. To be Opened And that we may not with Aquinas and the Papists In ipso limine impingere Stumble the very first Step we take and so quite ever after lose our way by confounding Justification with Sanctification I shall only premise That as in Sanctification the change is Absolute and Inherent so in Justification the change is Relative and Juridical the former is wrought in the Sinner's Person he becomes a new Creature but this latter is wrought in his State he becomes Absolved at the Bar of Divine Justice for Justification is a Law-state 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it abolisheth the convincing Power of Sin or its Guilt Our Business therefore is to discover the Process at God's Bar in the justification of a Sinner which will be best done by comparing it with that at Man's which we are familiarly acquanted with To be Justified therefore implies in general three things 1. The Person is charg'd with Guilt 2. Pleads to the Charge 3. Upon that Plea is discharged by the Judge 1. A justified Person must be charg'd with Guilt Now Guilt is the Relation which Sin hath to Punishment for Sin is the breach of the Law and Punishment is the Vengeance which the Law threatens for that breach And as the threatning it self is in the nature of it a Guard to the Law to prevent the breach of it bidding as it were the Transgressor come at his Peril break the Law if he dare be wi●e before hand lest he rue it too late so the Punishment in the very nature of it is a vindication of the Equity of the injur'd Law the Reparation and Amends it makes it self for the wrong done it by damnifying the Person injuring her proportionally to the Injury Now that a justified Person must be charg'd with Guilt i. e. with the breach of Law and by consequence with desert of Punishment appears because otherwise if a Man be pronounced Righteous whom no body ever accused or questioned he is only praised not justified 2. The Person to be justified must plead for himself either in Person or by his Advocate who sustains his Person for to refuse to Plead is to despair quite of being justified and to abandon ones self over unto Punishment Silence gives con●●●t it argues the accused Person hath nothing to say for himself why he should not be Condemned Our Law you know sheweth no Mercy to one that will not Plead he is to be Prest to Death An Indicted person must plead therefore something in his own behalf why he should be Justified if he would be Now either the Man is Guilty of the Charge or not Guilty I must speak to both Cases and shew what Pleas are requisite in each and which of them is the Plea upon which a Sinner is justified at the Bar of God Case 1. If the Indicted person be not Guilty of the Charge Justice it self must justifie him upon that Plea Si accusasse sufficiat quis erit innocens An innocent Person may be accused he can never be convinced for that that is not can never be demonstrated the Judge or Jury were themselves Guilty if they found Innocence Guilty Now to be Justified thus is to be purely and meerly Justified not at all to be Pardoned for such a one stands upon his Terms bears himself upon his own Righteousness begs no Mercy 'T is no favour to justifie him 't is his due he is not beholding to the Judge a jot the exact rigor of the Law acquits him To bring this to the present Business I shall demonstrate that we can never be justified at the Bar of God by pleading not Guilty For First The Plea is false Altho' in a very restrained Sense there is none so wicked but he may plead not Guilty and be justified as to this or that particular Fact charged upon him Nimrod was not Guilty of Abel's Murther Nay a Saint may be guilty of some Sins which the Devil may plead not Guilty to as grieving the comforting the sealing Spirit abusing the Redeemer's Grace c. yet nothing short of Universal Innocence nothing but a perfect Righteousness a total exemption from all manner of Guilt will entitle us before God's Tribunal to this Plea For whosoever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one point is guilty of all Jam. 2.10 1. Because the Punishment due to the breach of the whole Law viz the Curse of God is due to every breach of every part Cursed is he that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the Law to do them Gal. 3.10 Deut. 27.26 The wages of sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of every single sin is death Rom. 6.23 2. Because He that offends in one point affronteth the Authority of all as is excellently observed in the next Verse For he that said Do not commit adultery said also Do not steal Jam. 2.11 Every Sin hath Atheism in it it denies the God that is above to trample upon the Majesty of God shining in one Commandment is at once to trample upon that Majesty which enacted all 3. Because therby he becomes infected with a contagious Disposition to be guilty of all the same Principle which emboldned him now will another time if but excited with equal Strengths of Temptation to commit any other Sin or to repeat the same Sins again and again though excited with still weaker and weaker Temptations for as frequent Acts strengthen the habit of Sin so the habit facilitates the Acts. From hence it appears That the holy Angels that Adam in Innocency that the Man Christ Jesus might indeed plead not Guilty before God and be justified upon that Plea but now impossible forms Rom. 3.20 23. Psal 1● ● 1 Joh. 1.8 Secondly The Plea being false there is no h●●e ●pon this Issue to be justified unless there were some defect in the Judge or in the Evidence In the Judge either of Prudence in not Understanding or of Integrity or Powe● in not executing the Law might But in our Case these are a like that is infinitely impossible for we have to do with the All wise Legislator himself who is also the Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty and shall not this ●udge of all the earth do right Gen. 18 2● Nor can there be any defect in the Evidence for the b●●●ks shall be opened at the last day and the dead shall be judged out ●f these things which are written in the books according to their works

Rev. 20.12 Nay even now there are two Day books a ●●lling down goes every Hour every Moment all we do and think and speak in the Book of God's Remembrance fairly written not an Iota not a tittle either mist or blurred of this God hath given us a counterpart to ●eep in our own Bosoms the Register of Conscience though a very imperfect Copy full of Blo● Mistakes Omissions yet enough ●l●●e to ●onvince us instead of a thousand Witnesses for every Sinner will be his own Accuser and Condemner rising up as an Advocate in the behalf of the great Judge against himself at the day of Judgment Prima est haec ultio quod se Judic● ●e●o nocen● absolvitur Case 2. And this was the first Plea not Guilty but the Case is not ours and therefore this Plea will never justifie us I come therefore to the other which in our Case is Guilty and here are two ways of pleading First Meer Mercy for Mercies ●●ke but indeed this is not to Plead at all but to Beg. And as in the last Case when an innocent Person upon his pleading not Guilty is discharged that is pure Justification but no Pardon so here quite contrary when a guilty Person is discharged out of Mercy this is pure Pardon but no Justification for there shines not one Beam of Justice in such a Discharge meer Mercy is all in all Whence it follows that the Socinians who to avoid the necessity of acknowledging Christ's Satisfaction to Divine Justice affirm That Justification is nothing but meer Remission of Sins do abuse the Word and contradict themselves for who seeth not that to be pardoned gratis out of pure Mercy without the least Reparation made either for the Injury and Indignity done to the Law or Satisfaction to the Honour Justice and Authority of the Law-giver by the Sin affronted is not to be justified at all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but only to be gratified 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. disoharged upon the sole account of Mercy without any consideration had of Justice This is the first way of pleading when Guilty meer Mercy for Mercies sake but to be justified upon this Plea is an evident Contradiction Therefore 〈◊〉 The only Plea for a guilty Person to be justified upon is to plead Mercy for the sake of some Satifaction made to the Justice and Honour of the Law And by how much the fuller this Satisfaction is by so much the fullen is the Justification of such a person as is upon this Plea discharged N●● as full Satisfaction may be made two ways 1. By suffering the whole Penalty due 2. When a valuable Consideration is accepted by the offended Party or Judge wherein the Honour of the Law is as much saved as if it had never been broken or as if being broken the full Penalty had been inflicted on the Breaker And here I have these two things to prove 1. That Man could never make such Satisfaction to the Justice of God nor any Creature for him 2. That the Lord Christ hath made such full Satisfaction that it stands now with the Honour of the Holy God to justifie Sinners upon the terms of the Gospel 1. Assertion First That neither Man nor any Creature could satisfie offended Justice 1. Not by suffering the Penalty for that being Infinite requires an infinite Continuance under it there being no other way for a Finite Creature to suffer Infinitely and so the whole Penalty will ever be suffering but can never be suffered for in Eternity stop where you will and there is yet as much to come as is already past nay infinitely more for that which is past is but a Finite time of suffering though Millions of Ages are past but an Eternity of suffering is yet to come and after as many more Millions of Ages still still an infinite Eternity is future that never can be so exhausted but an Eternity will still be left Secondly Not by any act of Service which amounts to a valuable Consideration worthy to be accepted of the Judge as Satisfactory to his affronted Justice for two Reasons 1. Because God is more dishonoured by one Sin than honoured by an Eternity of Obedience for God is not at all obliged to Cherubims and Seraphims for obeying him all the Creation naturally oweth its utmost possibility of Service as an Eternal Debt to its great Creator Now the least act of Disobedience or Sin being Injury and Treason thereby a new Obligation is contracted viz. to suffer condign Punishment the former Obligation unto Duty remaining eternally in as full Force as ever which if we could discharge yet were we but imprositable servants Luke 17.10 Can a man be profitable to God Job 22.2 If thou be righteous what givest thou to him or what receiveth be of thine hand Job 35.7 An Eternity of Service in the highest perfection is every Creature 's Debt as a Creature and beside this an Eternity of suffering too is every delinquent Creature 's Debt as delinquent But one Debt cannot pay another since therefore all that the whole Creation can do for ever would but just satisfie the first natural Obligation unto pure Justice viz. the Debt of Obedience it is quite impossible that ever any Creature should supererogate or spare any thing from hence towards satisfying the Secondary super-added Obligation unto offended Justice viz. the Debt of Punishment either in its own behalf or anothers Secondly The other Reason why neither Man nor any Creature for him can ever satisfie the offended Creator by the highest Services because they all have it from him when they do Obey him of his own do they give him for in him we live and move and have our Being What hast thou O Man nay O Angel O Arch-angel that thou hast not received All our nay all their Springs are in him without him we can do nothing The more we do for God the more he doth for us and consequently still the more we owe him So that acts of Obedience are so far from satisfying our Obligations to God as that they contract new ones for even for them are we obliged 2. Assertion Having cleared the first we come to the second Point That Christ hath so fully satisfied his Father's offended Justice as it stands now with the Honour of the Holy God to justifie every Sinner that can upon Gospel terms plead his Interest in this Satisfaction Here we must enquire into these three things 1. The Matter of this Satisfaction 2. The Form or that which makes it infinitely Satifactory and Meritorious 3. What are those Gospel terms First For the matter of Christ's Satisfaction I humbly conceive that the whole State of his Humiliation from his Conception to his Resurrection for at his Resurrection began the second State of Christ as Mediator viz. his Exaltation to be continued to the general Resurrection and then he shall resign up the Kingdom to the Father and God shall be thenceforward all in all 1