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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A96866	Justification by faith: or, a confutation of that antinomian error, that justification is before faith; being the sum & substance of a sermon / preached at Sarum; by Benjamin Woodbridge, minister of Newberry in Barkshire. May 26. 1652. Imprimatur, Edmund Calamy.	Woodbridge, Benjamin, 1622-1684.	1652 (1652)	Wing W3424; Thomason E673_18; ESTC R207183	23,288	41

promised in Scripture peradventure they may grant that Justification in this or that place is meant of justification before God but their grant doth neither make nor mar if the evidence of the Text do not compel and convince the understanding Having thus cleared the coast of this Exception which for ought I can see is the onely Obstruction in the way I pass on to propound some Arguments by which it may be proved That we are justified by Faith in the sight of God and not before The first is drawn from the nature of Justification which is an Absolution of a Sinner from Condemnation by that gracious Sentence and signal Promise in the Gospel He that believes shall not enter into condemnation We are not to conceive of Justification as an internal immanent act of God resolving privatly in his own brest not to prosecute his right against a Sinner but it must be some declared promulged act which may be our legal discharge from the accusation condemnation of the Law for as sin is not imputed where there is no Law Rom. 5. 13. so neither is Righteousness imputed without Law And as our condemnation is no secret act or resolution of God to condemn but the very voice and sentence of the Law Cursed is he that sinneth and therefore he whom God in his eternal Decree hath purposed to save may yet for the present be under the sentence of condemnation as the Ephesians whom God had chosen to eternal Life Eph. 1. 4. were yet sometimes the children of Wrath chap. 2. 3. so on the contrary our Justification must be some declared promulged act or sentence of God which may stand good in Law for the discharge of the sinner from condemnation Indeed to our private forgiveness one of another it being meerly an act of Charity there is no more required then a Resolution within our selves to lay aside our thoughts of revenge and not to prosecute our right against him that hath injured us But the forgiveness of a Magistrate being an act of Authority must be by some formal Act of Oblivion by which all former Acts and Orders against Delinquents may be invalidated A Vote in the House or a Declaration that such an Act shall come forth is no legal security to a Delinquent So then Gods forgiveness being an Act of Authority must neither be an hidden secret purpose in his own heart nor a meer promise or Declaration of an Act of Pardon that shall be made hereafter but a formal Act of Pardon it must be that shall make the Law of condemnation to be of no force against him that pleads it And this formal Act of Pardon can be no other then the sentence of the Gospel He that believes shall be saved which is sometimes called the Law of Faith Rom. 3. 27. sometimes the Law of Righteousness Rom. 9. 31. in reference to which it is that the Lord says He that believes is passed from death to life John 5. 24. so that as every man is then condemned when the Law condemns him whatsoever the purposes of God may be unknown to us so on the contrary a man is then justified when the Gospel justifies him and not before The Argument then is in sum this If there be no Act of Grace declared and published in the word which may be a legal discharge of the Sinner while he is in unbelief then no unbelieving Sinner is justified The reason is because Justification imports a legal discharge of the Sinner by some Act of Grace declared and published in the Gospel But there is no Act of Grace declared and published in the Word which may be a legal discharge of the sinner whiles he remains in unbelief Ergo. If there be any such Act let it be produced 2. The second Argument is this They that are under condemnation cannot at the same time be justified but all the world is under condemnation before Faith Ergo none of the world are justified before Faith The major must needs be true because Justification and Condemnation are contraries and contraries cannot be verified of the same subject at the same time Justification is a moral life and Condemnation a moral death a man can no more be in a justified Estate and a state of Condemnation both at once then he can be alive or dead both at once or a blessed man and a cursed man both at once What that the Apostle describes justification by non-condemnation Rom. 8. 1. and opposeth it unto condemnation as inconsistent with the same person at the same time ver 33 34. and are at as mortal enmity one with another as good and evil light and darkness But now that all the world is under condemnation before Faith which is the minor are the very words of the Lord Jesus John 3. 18. He that believeth not is condemned already The Lord is proving that he came not into the world to condemn the world he proves it by a disjunction thus Then either he must condemn them that believe or them that do not believe not them that believe For he that believeth is not condemned nor them that do not believe For he that believeth not is condemned already to wit by the sentence of the Law Cursed is every one that sinneth so that Christ should not need to come into the world to condemn it which is also the meaning of that other phrase verse 36. He that believeth not the wrath of God abideth on him that is the wrath of God by the Law is upon every sinner yet not so necessarily but that by believing he may escape it but if he believeth not then the wrath of God abideth on him the sentence of the Law shall stand good against him for ever If then it be objected that when it is said He that believeth not is condemned condemnation must be understood of the condemnation of Conscience not before God I Answer 1. The condemnation here spoken of is the condemnation of the Law and that pronounceth all men guilty not onely in their own conscience but before God Rom. 3. 19. That all the world may become guilty before God 2. The condemnation in conscience of the unbelieving world is either true or false If true then it is according to the judgement of God and speaks as the thing is and so God condemns as well as the conscience and in this case we may say as John doth 1 John 3. 20. If our hearts condemn us God is greater then our hearts and knoweth all things and by consequence doth much more condemn us If false then seeing all the unbelieving world is under the same condemnation the conscience of an unbeliever when it condemns him for drunkenness adultery swearing c. is erroneous and the way to comfort them is to perswade them so and thereby to blinde their eyes and harden their hearts and sear up their consciences that they may never see nor be affected with sin till they fall irrecoverably into

everlasting flames 3. The condemnation with which the unbeliever is condemned is expressed verse 36. by the abiding of the wrath of God upon him 4. It is also opposed unto salvation verse 17. God sent not his Son to condemn the world but to save it and surely the condemnation which is opposed to Salvation is more then the condemnation of a mans own conscience for that may very well consist with Salvation yea they that are saved are for the most part more subject to it in this life then they that perish 3. A third Argument is drawn from the several comparisons by which justification by Faith is illustrated Sometimes 't is compared to the Israelites looking up to the Brazen Serpent for healing Joh. 3. 14. Num. 21. 8 9. As then they were not first healed and then looked up to see what healed them but they did first look upon the Serpent and then they were healed Even so is it the will of God That whosoever seeth and believeth the Son shall be justified John 6. 40. He is not first justified and then seeth the Son sometimes Faith is compared to eating and Justification to the nourishment which we receive by our meat John 6. 51 52 53 54. We are not first nourished and then eat the meat that nourisheth us but we eat our meat that we may be nourished by it In like maner we are not first justified and then believe on Christ that hath justified us but we believe in Christ that we may be justified 4. A fourth Argument is drawn from the perpetual opposition between Faith and Works from whence the Argument is this What place and order Works had to justification in the Covenant of Works the same place and order Faith hath to our justification in the Covenant of Grace But Works were to go before our Justification in the Covenant of Works Ergo Faith is to go before our Justification in the Covenant of Grace To the minor I say nothing because there is not a man in the world that doth deny it as I know of and that being granted the major also must be out of question If the tenor of the first Covenant Do this and live by the consent of all People and Nations Jews and Gentiles will undeniably evince that Works were necessary Antecedents of justification in that Covenant why then should not Believe in the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved which is the tenor of the New Covenant Rom. 10. 6 9. plead as strongly for the like necessity of the Antecedency of Faith to justification in this Covenant 2. Faith and Works have the like order to justification in their respective Covenants or else justification by Faith and justification by Works are not opposed for Opposita sunt circa idem The Jews looked after Righteousness by the works of the Law The Apostle tells them they must seek it by Faith Now if they say we must be justified by Works to wit formally and before God and the Apostle say Nay but we must be justified by Faith to wit declaratively and before Conscience then the establishing of justification by Faith will not destroy justification by Works and so there will be nothing but falshoods and equivocations in all the Apostles Disputations against Justification by Works And how easily might the Jews and the Apostle have been reconciled They say We must be justified by Works and he says We must be justified by Faith it is but distinguishing Works do justifie us before God but Faith must evidence and declare this to us and they are agreed 5. Adde further what the Apostle says 1 Cor. 6. 11. Such were some of you but you are washed but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Where the opposition between the time past and the time present doth evidently argue that the words have this sense Such and such you were in time past Fornicators Idolaters c. and therefore must have been shut out of the Kingdom of God verse 10. But Now you are washed Now and not before you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus that is through Faith in his name compare Acts 3. 16. and 10. 43. If then the Corinthians were not justified before Faith Why are Englishmen It is to no purpose to say here That now they were declared in their own Consciences to be justified and so they were not before whiles they lived in those abominable sins For 1. Why may not we understand the word Sanctified in the same sense seeing we are said to be sanctified by Faith Acts 26. 18. and 15. 9. 1 Pet. 1. 22. as well as justified by Faith And so suppose that these Corinthians had a seed of Grace before but buried under the dirt and rubbish of vile sins till by Faith they came to see that they were sanctified There is nothing can be alledged for Justification before believing which will not hold as strongly for Sanctification before believing nor any reason why Sanctification should not be understood for a Sanctification declared as well as Justification for a Justification declared 2. The Justification which they now had was that which gave them right and title to the Kingdom of God which right and title they had not before no more then others that did yet continue in Idolatry Fornication Uncleanness and the other sins specified It is acknowledged of all hands that Justification includes an adjudging of us unto life or a giving us a right to the Heavenly Kingdom if then these Corinthians had this right before they believed then did their Faith give them no more security of Salvation in point of right then they had before or then might be affirmed of them who did yet abide in their sins and by consequence if they had lived and dyed in their sins they might have gone to Heaven notwithstanding though for want of Faith to see this their right they could not have departed with so much comfort of Spirit For if faith do onely declare that we have a Title to the Heavenly Kingdom then it makes no relative change in our condition from a state of death into a state of life and so whether we believe or no all is one as to the certainty of our Salvation though we want the evidence and perswasion of it If it be here said that all whom God in his secret justification hath adjudged unto life shall have the evidence thereof by Faith I Answer This evidence is of such necessity as that if they have it not they shall lose that life to which they are adjudged or no If not then whether they believe or do not believe they shall be saved If it be then is there no absolute justification before Faith and justification must be conditional and the immediate and absolute right to life must be acknowledged to be a consequent of Faith which will at once overthrow Mr. Eyres Opinion and confirm this Argument without any more ado What remains to be done is to

are justified in Christ then we are justified before we believe But we are justified in Christ Ergo. Answ We may conceive of a Threefold Justification 1. a Justification purposed in the decree of God Gal. 3. 8. The Scriptures foreseeing that God would justifie the Gentiles through Faith 2. A Justification purchased and impetrated in the death of Christ who by his death hath obtained eternal Redemption for us Heb. 9. 12. which Redemption is the Remission of sins Eph 1. 7. 3. There it also a Justification exemplified in the resurrection of Christ who himself was justified in his own resurrection and thereby became the exemplary cause of Justification to believers by vertue of which themselves shall also be justified in such time and upon such terms as shall be agreed upon between the Father and Christ I use the term of an exemplary cause rather then of a common person because a common person may be the effect of those whom he represents as the Parliament of the Commonwealth but Christ is such a common person as that he is the cause of those whom he represents in every thing in which he represents them so that when we say We are justified in Christ the meaning is no more but this That Christ is made the cause and patern according to which Justication shall certainly follow on them that believe But what is this to our deliverance from condemnation or what benefit do we receive by it before we believe Should a man argue thus in any other benefits we receive by Christ and from Christ as the exemplary cause he would make himself deservedly ridiculous For example We are said to be risen with Christ Christ himself being risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept 1 Cor. 15. 20. So that Christ in his resurrection is the exemplary cause of our resurrection in which we are therefore said to bear the image of the heavenly Adam verse 49. Would any sober man infer Therefore our own personal resurrection is past already to wit before our selves are dead or that we are not to be raised at all because we are risen already in Christ Yet no man living can shew any reason of difference why we may not as justly infer that our resurrection is passed already because we are risen in Christ as that our Justification is past before we believe because we are justified in Christ No doubt but most men would account the just contrary a necessary consequence Again We are sanctified in Christ as well as justified in Christ Our old man is crucified with him Rom. 6. 6. and he is said to be made Sanctification to us as well as Righteousness 1 Cor. 1. 30. And why then may we not inveigh against Regeneration and personal Sanctification as well as against personal Justification for if we are sanctified in Christ then we are sanctified before Faith and we need not mortifie sin and dye to the world c. all this is done already in Christ in whom we are sanctified before Faith we need onely to have it declared to us that we are sanctified To draw up the Answer more close Justification is either causal and virtual or actual and formal The former is no other then a Justification of Christ himself with a connotation of others who by virtue of this Justification of his are themselves to be justified in due time as our resurrection in Christ is nothing else but Christ himself risen as the first fruits of them that slept and so become the exemplary cause of a resurrection afterwards to follow us but as the resurrection of Christ makes no real change in us till our selves be risen so neither doth the justification of Christ make any moral change in us from death to life till our selves be justified Actual and formal justification is when we are acquitted from the guilt of sin by the gracious sentence of the Gospel He that believes shall not enter into condemnation Now then if we speak of Justification formal then I deny that we are justified in Christ which is the opponents Assumption And if we speak of Justification causal then I do utterly deny the Proposition viz. That if we are justified in Christ then we are justified before we believe the Reason is because to be justified in Christ is not to be justified simply no more then to be risen in Christ is to be risen simply or to be glorified in Christ is to be glorified simply and therefore the inference is a dicto secundum quid ad dictum simpliciter They are credulous souls I 'le assure you that will be drawn by such Decoys as these into Schism and Faction to the hardening and discomforting of more hearts in one hour then the Opinion it self should it obtain will do good to while the world stands Object 3. The last and great Argument succeeds and that is this If we are in Covenant before we believe then we are justified before we believe But we are in Covenant before we believe Ergo. Answ Were it supposed that we were in Covenant before Faith yet would the Proposition be faulty The Reason because the Blessings of the Covenant have an order and dependance one upon another and are enjoyed successively one after another God in his Covenant promises Holiness and Glory as well as Justification yet he would argue most absurdly that should say We are sanctified and glorified before Faith because we are in Covenant bfore Faith But I am unwilling to multiply quarrels If the great difference lay here it were an easie matter to be reconciled 2. I do utterly deny the Assumption viz. That we are in Covenant with God before we believe if at least the Phrase of being in Covenant be understood properly for such an interest in the Covenant as gives a man right and title to the Blessings of the Covenant That in this sense we are not in Covenant before we believe is that which I shall prove by and by But first I shall give Mr. Eyre a fair hearing though he would not give it me and I believe is resolved to give it to no body else whiles the judgement of the cause must be left to the people The proof of the Assumption stands thus If the Spirit be given us before we believe then we are in Covenant before we believe But the Spirit is given us before we believe Ergo the proof of the minor is from the tenor of the New Covenant Heb. 8. 10 11. I will put my laws into their minde and they shall all know me which is a promise of giving the Spirit to work Faith Answ The Explication of the terms of this Argument is a sufficient refutation of it God is said to give in Scripture sometimes when no receiving follows and thus the Word Give signifies no more then the will of God constituting and appointing Thus God gave his Son unto death that is constituted and appointed that he should die There is

be given he is not our God nor we his people for it is in vain for God to give Faith for an end which may be well enough attained without Faith But God promiseth to give Faith that he may be our God and we his people Jer. 31. 33. Heb. 8. 10. Ezek. 11. 19 20. and 36. 25 26 27 28. 37. 23 24 26 27. besides multitudes of other Scriptures I have onely one observation to adde which the most learned amongst the Jewish and Christian Writers do often take notice of and that is this That God is never said to be our God in reference to his giving of the first grace but onely in reference to the blessings which he promiseth to them that have Faith Heb. 11. 16. He is not our God that he may give us Faith but is every where said to give us Faith that he may be our God In times past you were not a people but are now the people of God 1 Pet. 2. 10. And now I might spare the pains of further proof of the position last defended a Viz. That we are in not Covenant before Faith yet to the Scriptures already advanced let me adde a few more Isa 55. 3. Come unto me that is Believe in me John 6. 35. and I will make an everlasting Covenant with you 2. The voice of the Gospel which is the Covenant of Grace is every where Believe in the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved in opposition to the Covenant of Works which saith Do this and live Rom. 10. 5. 6. 9. This is the Covenant whereof Christ is Mediator Heb. 9. 15. That they that are called unto Faith shall receive the promise of the eternal inheritance 3. The Covenant of Grace is preached to every man and every man called upon to fulfil the conditions of it that he may receive the blessings of it which condition is Faith Heb. 4. 1 2 10. Is there an absolute promise made to every man that God will give him grace or is it sense to exhort men to take hold of Gods Covenant as the phrase is Isa 66. 4 6. or to enter into Covenant with God if the Covenant be onely an absolute promise on Gods part or to exhort men to be stedfast in the Covenant of God to hold fast the faith and their confidence in Christ as the Scriptures are wont to do Heb. 3. 12 13 14. and 10. 23. or to accuse and blame and damn men for unbelief and rejecting of the Gospel Was it ever known that men should be counted worthy of death for not being the objects of an absolute promise 4. If the Covenant of grace be an absolute promise then no men in the world but wicked ungodly men are in covenant with God When a covenant is fulfilled it ceaseth to be any more a covenant In this life we are properly said to be in covenant with God when we shall be perfected in glory in the heavenly kingdom we cannot properly be said to be in covenant Now absolute promises of grace are made onely to wicked men when grace is given them then is the covenant so far forth fulfilled and so far forth they cease to be in covenant and so none but wicked men shall be perfectly in covenant with God But it is beside my purpose work to follow this pursuit any further Thus then you have with advantage the copy of the Sermon you have often desired to which though it is likely somthing is or will be said which at this distance I am never like to hear of yet sure I am that nothing can be answered consistent with the truth of Scriptures I am sorry for the breaches that are amongst you for the grief of the godly and the hardning of multitudes to their own destruction The God and Father of the Lord Jesus restore you to peace and quiet that spirit of Division that is gone abroad amongst you to his Grace I commend you rest Imprimatur Edm. Calamy May 26. 1652. Yours in the nearest bonds Benj Woodbridge FINIS