in their willingness to be reconciled to him This is the first of the three things I mentioned which have a great aptness in them to persuade men to be reconciled to God for which end our Saviour does by the Gospel as he is Mediator of the New Testament not only reveal this but labours to possess men with a strong belief of it without which it will not operate on them at all towards such an end as the reconciling them to God is 2. Another of those motives by which our Saviour by setting the Gospel on foot seeks to reconcile men to God is by giving them great assurance that God is so far from desiring to revenge himself on them notwithstanding all their provocations if they were but as willing as he is to be reconciled as that in case they will be but persuaded to be reconciled to God by repentance for their former rebellion and by becoming really obedient to their power for the future as that then he will bestow upon them everlasting life advance them to such a state of happiness as that greater than which the heart of man cannot wish for or desire And surely this if it be throughly believed will if any thing will persuade men to be reconciled to God To this end our Saviour hath brought life and immortality to light by the Gospel 2 Tim. 1.10 And by this motive he doth almost every where in the Gospel persuade to Faith Love Repentance Obedience and Holiness which is the same with persuading men to be reconciled to God for in such things as these doth our reconciliation to God consist St. John speaks of this in a magnifying way as the great motive to man to entertain and obey the Gospel This saith he is the promise which he hath promised us even eternal life 1 John 2.25 And indeed it was this that did invite men to receive the Gospel to profess the Christian Religion at first and which did animate them to suffer any thing rather than to renounce and forsake it and the hope of eternal life which they had received by it They took joyfully the spoiling of their goods knowing in themselves that they had in Heaven a better and an enduring substance Heb. 10.34 3. There is a great aptitude in our Saviours setting the Gospel on foot to reconcile men to God because he thereby convinceth them that if after God's gracious offer of being reconciled to them in case they will be reconciled to him and if after all that hath been done by God and suffered by his Son to prepare the way for a mutual reconciliation between them they shall yet obstinately refuse to be reconciled to God and persist still in their rebellion and disobedience That then God will be so far from being reconciled to them and from pardoning them notwithstanding all the willingness he hath declared to be reconciled to them upon condition of their reconciliation to him and notwithstanding all that Christ hath done and suffered to bring this about as that this offer of God and undertaking of Christ shall turn but to their heavier doom and greater condemnation in the next world This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men loved darkness more than light John 3.19 How shall we escpe if we neglect so great salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord himself and was confirmed to us by them that heard him Heb. 2.3 It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah and for Tyre and Sydon in the day of Judgment than for them that have refused to be reconciled to God when by the Gospel sent to them he hath offered to be reconciled to them on condition that they would be reconciled unto him And lest any should flatter themselves with vain hopes of being saved from the goodness of the nature of God and the death of Jesus Christ for sinners who yet take a liberty to live in known sin without reconciling themselves to God by leaving it off and returning to their duty as too many alas do there are two or three things revealed by Christ to take from them such vain hopes and to put them upon a necessity of chusing either to reconcile themselves to God or to be eternally miserable 1. The first is taken from the nature of God The nature of God is so pure and holy and so contrary to sin that it is as impossible for him to be reconciled to sin or to sinners while by it they are in open rebellion against him as it is for him to change his nature and cease to be God This is the message saith St. John which we have heard of him that is of Christ and declare unto you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lie and do not the truth 1 John 1.5 So that according to this message which Christ hath sent to sinners by his Messengers it is as possible to reconcile light and darkness as God and such as walk in darkness that is in wilful sin And St. Paul would make men themselves judges in the case and appeals to their own reason saying What communion hath light with darkness and what concord hath Christ with Belial 2 Cor. 6.14 15. and plainly intimates that if light and darkness are irreconcilable and can have no communion so is Christ and Belial or a lawless man 2. He hath taken away such vain hopes from sinners by declaring by his Gospel That God without respect of persons judgeth according to every mans work that is he will judg every man according to the right of his cause without favouring or dis-favouring the persons of men against the nature and right of their cause He that hath done good shall come forth to the resurrection of life and he that hath done evil unto the resurrection of damnation Even there where the Lord hath declared from heaven that he is merciful and gracious forgiving iniquity transgression and sin even there he hath declared also to the end men might not mistake that he will by no means clear the guilty no by no means not upon any account whatsoever will he clear such as are finally guilty by persisting in rebellion Exod. 34.6 7. All such persons therefore as will not be persuaded to be reconciled to God by becoming obedient to his government by his laws have no more reason to hope that they shall be saved upon the account of God's merciful nature or the merits of Christ's death than they have to hope that God for their sakes will go contrary to all his declarations in his word and contrary to the whole fixed frame of his government by which he rules and will judg the world And what sinner is there that can but give himself the liberty to consider things that is or can be so vain in his expectation as to promise himself any such thing since
the words are these And by him all that believe are justified from all things from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses To be Justified from sin sometimes signifies to be freed from the power and dominion of it Thus in Rom. 6.7 St. Paul having said in Verse 6. Knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin adds in Verse 7. for he that is dead is Justified from sin For so it is according to the marginal reading and so the Dutch Translation Englished reads it though in our Translation it is rendred freed instead of Justified from sin And in this sense St. Austin understood this Acts 13.39 as I find him quoted And to this sence of the word Justifie agrees the reading of Revel 22.11 which some upon occasion use Let him that is filthy be filthy still and he that is Righteous let him be Justified still To the same sence of the word Justifie some alledg Rom. 8.30 Tit. 3.5 compared with Verse 7. and 1 Cor. 6.11 But ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are Justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God Where Justification seems to be ascribed unto the Spirit of God in one respect as to the Lord Jesus in another And doubtless Justification is the effect of the operation of all the Blessed Trinity though the manner of their operation be different Now that to be Justified from all things from which ye could not be Justified by the Law of Moses may be understood in this sense there are two things to be said to render it probable The one is the good agreement which this sence has with other places of Scripture which shew that men are freed from sin through Christ by his Gospel so as they could not be freed from it by the Law of Moses Thus Heb. 7.18 19. There is verily a disannulling of the Commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof For the Law made nothing perfect but the bringing in of a better hope did And again Rom. 8.2 3 4. For the Law of the Spirit of Life which is in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of sin and of death For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit So likewise Rom. 6.14 Sin shall not have dominion over you for ye are not under the Law but under grace By all which we see that the Law of Moses could not Justifie men from sin as Christ by the Gospel-dispensation does if by being Justified from sin we understand a being freed from sin it self as to its dominion The other thing which may incline us to understand the words under consideration in this sense is what may be observed from the context St. Paul had said in Verse 38. the words immediately before Be it known to you men and brethren that through this man Christ is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins Now then if in Verse 39. he should mean no more by being Justified than a being Pardoned he would seem but to say over the same thing again in other words which he had said before which is not usual with him But if this should not be the meaning of those words and should we suppose that by being Justified from all things from which they could not be Justified by the Law of Moses should be meant a being Justified from the guilt of sin as that signifies a being freed from the punishment deserved by it yet let us consider whether it will necessarily follow that the Apostle in those words defines Justification by Remission of sin or whether rather he does not thereby only set forth the subsequent benefits that would accrue to them by being Justified by believing which could not be obtained by their observing the Law of Moses And if so then the meaning would be only this That by their being Justified by their believing they should be delivered from or secured against the evil effects of their sin from which they could be not secured by observing the Law of Moses Now that to be Justified by believing by vertue of the blood of Christ and to be freed from the punishment of sin which is Pardon are two different things seems to be very plain from those words of St. Paul Rom. 5.9 where he saith much more than being now justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him He infers the certainty of their being Pardoned or saved from wrath from their being Justified and the inference and that from which it is made are doubtless two things We see then that men may be Pardoned by vertue of their being Justified and so be Justified from sin and yet not Justified by their being Pardoned It will no more follow that because by Justification we are Pardoned that therefore Pardon is our Justification than it will follow that because by believing we are Pardoned that therefore our Pardon is our believing and our believing our Pardon And now if we should understand the words Justified from all things from which ye could not be Justified by the Law of Moses in both the forementioned sences for a being delivered both from the guilt of sin and from the power and pollution of it I know no inconvenience in it both being true But if we do so yet we do not thereby necessarily conclude Pardon of sin to be Justification but only that Pardon of sin is by Justification as depending upon it For Gods adjudging of us to have performed the condition in believing on which he promised Pardon which is his Justifying of us together with his imputing that Faith to us for Righteousness intervenes comes between our believing and our being actually Pardoned and is that which gives the immediate right to it as I shewed before What hath been said then may suffice I suppose to shew that in all probability no such thing can be concluded from those words in Acts 13. as that we are Justified by being Pardoned The next Scripture I shall enquire into is Rom. 5.16 the words these Not as it was by one that sinned so is the gift for the judgment was by one or by one offence to condemnation but the free gift is of many offences unto Justification That which is first necessary to be done here is to consider the Translation because these words the free gift of many offences unto Justification seem as we have them in our Translation a little uncouth and somwhat unintelligible I have seen the matter in this part of the Verse Translated from the Original thus But the free gift is unto Justification from many offences not of many offences
Dr. Hammond renders it thus But the mercy was by occasion of many offences unto Justification Agreeable to this reading is that note of Grotius upon the place in these words Occasion being taken from many sins and so is that of Piscator and Simplicius in these words Occasion being taken not only from the sin of Adam but also from the proper sins of all believers So that the sense of the place according to this rendering of the words seems to be to this effect That from the sad condition into which men were fallen not only by the one offence of Adam but also by their own many personal offences God took occasion to manifest his own Grace and Mercy through Christ to miserable men in giving and granting them new terms by which they might attain unto Justification or a being approved of by God as Righteous their many offences notwithstanding And this in Verse 17. is called the gift of Righteousness and in Verse 18. the free gift unto Justification of life through the Righteousness of one to wit Christ And accordingly the grant which God hath made us of being saved by Faith in Jesus Christ is said to be of Grace and to be the gift of God By Grace are ye saved through Faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God Ephes 2.8 Now according to this rendering of the words by all these great men of Learning there is not the least appearance of any such thing as that Justification is by Remission of sin None of those worthy persons abovementioned do say the free gift is of many offences but all of them say it is from many offences So that if we read it thus according to the Translation I first mentioned the free gift is unto Justification from many offences the sense will be this I conceive That through the free gift we are by Justification secured from suffering the desert of our many offences and is the same in sense with the interpretation of Acts 13.39 last suggested Where was shewed that though Remission of sin is by Justification that is a benefit accruing to us thereby yet we cannot therefore say that Justification is by Remission of sin The terms are not convertible we cannot so well say that Justification is by Remission of sin as we can that Remission of sin is by Justification The other Scripture which is much insisted on to prove Remission of sin is Justification or that Justification stands in Remission of sin is Rom. 4.6 7. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth Righteousness without works saying blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered In which words as it is argued Justification is described by Gods forgiving iniquity But then it is counter-argued that this description by David seems not to be a description of the Justification of the man to whom God imputeth Righteousness without works but a description of his happy state and condition in having his sins Pardoned St. Paul doth not say even as David describeth the Justification of the man to whom God imputeth Righteousness but the Blessedness of the man Now the blessedness of having sin Pardoned is a benefit consequent upon a mans believing and so of his being Justified by that belief for Pardon is promised but on that condition Acts 10.43 And the promise and the condition of the promise cannot be the same Which very consideration if there were no more were enough to shew that Justification is not described by Forgiveness of sin It appears at first sight that these words of the Psalmist were brought to prove somwhat said by St. Paul a little before And if they should be brought to prove that Faith is counted to a man for Righteousness which was the thing St. Paul had asserted in the next precedent Verse then they could not be brought to prove that Forgiveness of sin is counted to him for Righteousness for Faith and Forgiveness of sin are two different things By this it appears already that these words of David were not alledged to prove Justification to be by Remission of sin as it will further appear by and by To the end then we may the better understand for what purpose these words of David are here recited by St. Paul we will consider his words in the two next precedent Verses Now to him that worketh saith he is the reward not reckoned of Grace but of Debt Verse 4. In which words St. Paul seems to have stated the opinion of the Pharisaical Jews against whom he disputed They held as it seems that the reward to wit all the benefit all the happiness they expected from God to be due to them as a debt for their observing the Law of Moses They did not expect that their obedience should be accepted or counted to them for Righteousness for the sake of another and upon the account of the Death and Sacrifice of the Messias for they held that he when he should come should never die John 12.34 and that therefore their sin was not to be expiated by the Sacrifice of his death but by their own legal Sacrifices and that the blood of Bulls and Goats did take away sin Heb. 10.4 and that those Sacrifices with their other legal observances were of themselves their Righteousness and that upon account hereof Justification and Life were due to them in the nature of a debt in opposition to Grace and that the Gentiles were ungodly and uncapable of Righteousness and Justification until they were Proselytes to their way of worship This is that St. Paul calls their own Righteousness in opposition to that which is of God by Faith of Jesus Christ Phil. 3.9 By all which they rendred the death of Christ of none effect and Justification to be of Works and not of Grace as appears by Gal. 2.21 and 5.4 In Verse 5. St. Paul asserts the contrary to wit That to him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his Faith is counted to him for Righteousness Which assertion of St. Paul if true proves the reward to be of Grace and not of Debt whether by Reward you understand only Justification or also the benefits subsequent to it For if God count such mens Faith for Righteousness which work not which have no such works as by which to reckon the reward to be of Debt and not of Grace yea such mens Faith for Righteousness which had been ungodly then the reward must needs be of Grace and not of Debt This being a self-evident truth That after a man by sin hath once made a forfeiture of all to God whatever good he after receives from him must needs be of Grace Which made St. Paul say All have sinned and come short of the glory of God being Justified freely by his Grace and that too through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus Rom. 3.23.24 These words of David then in Verse 6 7. seem to be
of Mediation Secondly that our Saviour did exactly observe obey and fulfil this Law And if so we may know what that Law was by what he hath done spoken and suffered in the execution of his Mediatorial office Now what he did spake and suffered in conformity to this Law is that which we call his Righteousness his Mediatorial Righteousness His coming into the world and his taking our nature upon him was an act of obedience to this Law I am not saith he come of myself but he that sent me c. John 7.28 A body hast thou prepared me Heb. 10.5 What he did and preached here in the world was in obedience to this Law I can saith he of mine own self do nothing as I hear I judge and my judgment is just because I seek not mine own will but the will of him that sent me John 5.30 Lo I come to do thy will yea thy law is in my heart Heb. 10.7 with Psal 40.8 His conformity and obedience to the natural Law as a man and to the Law of Moses as a Jew was part of his Mediatorial obedience For he was made under the Law to redeem them that were under the Law Gal. 4.4 5. His preaching the Gospel was an act of obedience to this Law I do nothing of my self but as my father hath taught me I speak these things John 8.28 I have not spoke of my self but the Father which sent me he gave me a commandment what I should say and what I should speak Whatsoever I speak therefore even as the Father said unto me so I speak John 12.49 50. His laying down his life was another eminent act of obedience to this law He humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross Phil. 2.8 I lay down my life and I take it again this commandment have I received of my Father John 10.18 By these and other like acts of obedience and conformity to this law of Mediation did our Saviour fulfil all righteousness And by this righteousness of his we are made righteous and so justified Rom. 5.19 As by one mans disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous By these things we may know what we are to understand by the righteousness of Christ which was the first thing I was to enquire into about it 2. The next thing I am to enquire into is how this Righteousness of Christ doth operate to our Justification In doing of which I shall enquire into two things by the understanding of which we may come to know how the righteousness of our Saviour operates to our Justification 1. The reason and end of this law of Mediation and of the acts of our Mediator in conformity to it from which this righteousness of Christ doth result 2. Upon what the efficacy and operative virtue of this righteousness doth depend in reference to this end For the first of these The end in general of the law of Mediation and of our Saviours obedience to it was to deliver us from the wrath to come and to bring us to everlasting life The subordinate end was Reconciliation between God and men And as a means to this end the obtaining and granting a Conditional pardon for all the world and a new Covenant containing that condition and the promise made upon it 1. The first and last end next to Gods glory of the law of Mediation and of the obedience of the Mediator to it was to recover us from the dolefull condition into which our sin had brought us and to restore us to a capacity of enjoying everlasting life When our Saviour had said I have not spoken of my self but the Father which sent me he gave me a commandment what I should say and what I should speak this we see was one part of the Law given to the Mediator he presently adds this and I know that his commandment is everlasting Life meaning that to that end it was designed and to that end it doth directly tend John 12.49.50 And again I am come saith our Saviour that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly this was the great end of his coming John 10.10 2. The next end of it in subordination and subserviency to the former was to Reconcile us to God by altering our nature by altering the frame and temper of the mind and heart and so of a mans ways and life from carnal to Spiritual without which there is no reconciliation wrought in us to God nor consequently of God to us For S. Paul saith that the carnal mind is enmity against God because it is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be Rom. 8.7 And he that is at enmity against God is far from being reconciled to him and from a capacity of being made happy by him For except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God nor without holiness shall see God till then he is no capable subject of such happiness And therefore to effect this to make us capable of the former end our Saviour in obedience to the Mediatorial Law gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purifie to himself a peculiar people zealous of good works Tit. 2.14 He suffered for us the Just for the unjust that he might bring us unto God by way of return from our revolt 1 Pet. 3.18 He loved his Church and gave himself for it that he might sanctifie and cleanse it that he might present it unto himself a glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish Eph. 5.25 26. 3. The next end of our Saviours Mediatorial obedience or Righteousness and as a means to accomplish and bring about the former end last mentioned was the obtaining the forming and granting of a Conditional pardon for all mankind In him we have Redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of Sins Eph. 1.7 He is the Lamb of God that taketh away the Sins of the world John 1.29 The propitiation for the Sins of the whole world 1 Joh. 2.2 He gave his flesh for the life of the world John 6. and himself a Ransom for all 1. Tim. 2.6 I will not deny but that this giving himself a Ransom for all and tasting death for every man may in one respect be said to be absolute and unconditional and did extend as far and to as many as ever the sin of Adam did in its effects and that is in Redeeming all men from obnoxiousness to eternal misery meerly upon the account of Adams sin or the sin of any other save their own personal sins The soul that sinneth it shall die the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father in this respect Ezek. 18.20 In respect of the extent and universality of this effect of Christs death Adam might be said to be the figure of him that was to come
our Saviour hath said Heaven and earth shall pass away but my word shall not pass away Mat. 24.35 Those are the Vnbelievers which shall certainly perish who will not believe God who will not believe the Son of God when they have spoken their mind fully and plainly but will needs flatter themselves with hopes that they will be better than their words 3. Our Saviour to take away from men such vain hopes and to convince them of the necessity of their being reconciled to God hath told them that if they will not be reconciled to him they cannot be reconciled to happiness that their nature cannot be capable of the happiness of the next world unless they are reconciled to God in this Except a man be born again saith he he cannot see the kingdom of God John 3.3 Except such as have contracted ill habits by bad living be born again they are not capable of the happiness of that state That is in other words except they put off the old man and put on the new Col. 3.10 or which is yet more plainly exprest Ephes 4.22 23 24. except they put off concerning their former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts and be renewed in the spirit of their minds and do put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness except this be done they cannot see the kingdom of God i. e. they cannot enjoy it He doth not say they shall not but that they cannot see it And the reason is because the happiness of the heavenly state is of such a nature as between which and the nature of man as viciated and corrupt there is no congruity And that which hath a contrariety in it to the nature of a creature is not matter of pleasure but of torment to it The holy God the holy Jesus the holy Angels and holy Men are the inhabitants of Heaven And what felicity can unholy men take in such company Solomon saith the upright are an abomination to the wicked Prov. 29.27 And if they be so here where they are but in part holy how much more will they be so in the other world when they are altogether so What Communion saith St. Paul hath righteousness with unrighteousness no more than light with darkness 2 Cor. 6.14 They do not love God here as he is holy nor is it pleasure to them to think of him as such and therefore unless they be sanctified and made so here they are not capable of enjoying God in the next world in the enjoyment of whom the happiness of Heaven doth consist Without holiness no man shall see the Lord Heb. 12.14 And they are such as are pure in heart which shall see God Mat. 5.8 Besides those sinful lusts which wicked men carry along with them into the next world will keep them from being happy in what place soever they are when they shall be deprived of those carnal objects to satisfie them which they found in this world And lest any should think that God will be so merciful to them as so to alter and change their nature when they come into the other world as that they shall be capable of the happiness of Heaven though they are not changed in this our Lord hath told them aforehand to prevent such a conceit that though many shall say unto him in that day Lord Lord open unto us for we have heard thee preach in our streets have eat and drunk in thy presence have prophesied and cast out devils in thy name and done many wonderful works yet they having lived and died unreformed he will then say unto them depart from me ye workers of iniquity I know you not Mat. 7.22 Luke 13.25 26. And St. Paul his Apostle hath told us also that we must all appear before the Judgment-seat of Christ that every one may receive according to that he hath done in the body whether it be good or bad We must receive we see according to what is done in the body here in this life before the separation of soul and body by death 2 Cor. 5.10 Now is the accepted time now the day of Salvation and those that out-stand this it will be said unto them as our Saviour doth in Rev. 22.11 He that is unjust let him be unjust still and he that is filthy let him be filthy still By all these Revelations made by our Saviour he hath as any that will consider them may easily see put men upon a necessity of being reconciled to God unless they had rather chuse to be everlastingly miserable And in this with the forementioned Motives there is a very great aptitude to reconciel men to God as the reason of the thing shews and the event hath declared And thus we have now seen how the Mediatory Righteousness of our Saviour his obedience in executing the Law of Mediation doth operate to our Justification in reference both to God and men By his sufferings he reconciled God to penitent sinners by making satisfaction to his governing Justice and by securing the ends of his inflicting punishment upon impenitent offenders while he spares the penitent And by the Gospel which he hath set on foot the Holy Spirit concurring he reconciles men to God that is he reconciles their minds and wills their lives and actions to Gods Holy Nature Government and Laws which is their Evangelical Righteousness in which capacity he delivers them up to God to be Justified and Pardoned according to the tenor of the Covenant of Grace which he likewise obtained for us it being founded on his Mediatory obedience of which Covenant I am now in the next place to speak CHAP. III. How and in what respect the Covenant of Grace operates to our Justification THE Covenant of Grace operates to our Justification in several respects But however it doth this or in what respect soever yet all that operation is owing to the Mediatorial Righteousness or Obedience of our Saviour For I have shewed in what goes before that the Covenant it self was obtained by and founded in the Mediatorial Righteousness of our Saviour the obtaining of which was one of the ends of the Office and Work of Christ as Mediator And as it is one of the effects of our Saviours death it is called a Testament though in other respects it is called a Covenant yea a Law As its promises are made by God on condition of duty to be performed by us so it is a pact or Covenant As it absolutely enjoyns that as duty which is also the condition of our happiness so it is a Law But as it comes out of the hands of Jesus Christ and is the Fruit of his death so it is a Testament because by that it receives its vigor and strength A Testament saith the Apostle is of force when men are dead otherwise it is of no strength at all while the Testator liveth Heb. 9.17 This being premised I come now to
shew in what respects this Covenant operates to our Justification And this it doth 1. By reconciling the Natural Law to the terms of the Law of Grace in the behalf of Repentant sinners in virtue of the death of Christ for them whose Justification and Pardon the Natural Law was against while they remained impenitent By the Natural Law I mean that eternal reason or wisdom by which Almighty God does always that which is fit and becoming him towards his creatures and that by which his creatures do or ought to do what is fit and becoming them towards God towards themselves and one another And this is said to be the Natural Law because its determinations and awards are suited to the nature of things As when innocent creatures are used as such and obstinate sinners dealt with as such and repentant sinners treated as such and when creatures are more or less punished or rewarded according as they have been and done more or less wickedly or worthily or as when God does render to every one according to his works without respect of persons as the Scripture speaks Now to do according to the nature of things is to do according to right reason and to do so is always well becoming the Agent whether it be God or man and cannot be otherwise To this Law that of St. Paul refers when he saith Whatsoever things are true honest just pure lovely of good report if there be any virtue and praise think on these things Phil. 4.8 This then being the Natural Law it must needs be always against the Justification and Pardon of impenitent obstinate sinners and irreconcilable enemies for it would not be according to the nature of things not according to right reason and so not becoming the Agent if the bad should be treated as well as the good But then on the other hand the Natural Law cannot be against the justifying and pardoning of such repentant sinners for whom Christ died Because the case of such is quite different from theirs who continue in their rebellion and who have no share in the satisfaction which Christ hath made in the behalf of repentant sinners Now the case of such being thus different it would not be according to the nature and reason of things and so not according to the Natural Law if they should be no more pardoned than the impenitent Considering what our blessed Saviour hath done and suffered to atone God and to obtain pardon and happiness for repentant sinners such as are greatly displeased with themselves for having displeased God and that judg and condemn themselves as guilty of folly and worthy of death that deprecate Gods displeasure beg forgiveness and return to their duty it cannot but be agreeable to the nature and reason of the thing and very well becoming so good a being as God is for him for Christs sake to pardon such and to reward their future Faithfulness and sincere obedience with everlasting happiness And so much the rather it is so because by the death of Christ for such as return to God after their apostacy from him the great and wise ends of Gods Government over all intelligent beings which center in the publick good are secured as well yea better as I have shewed before than they would been by punishing repentant sinners themselves for their Offences By the securing of which ends of Gods Government the reason of the Natural Law is fully answered and satisfied The publick good in Gods Dominions is a great end of his Government and this publick good is promoted by Gods justifying and pardoning repentant sinners for Christs sake because by his doing so sinners are prevailed with and persuaded to repent amend and reform and of bad to become good and of unprofitable and disserviceable to become useful and profitable members in Gods Kingdom to the increasing and multiplying of such in it to the great joy and satisfaction of the whole For which cause it 's said There is joy in heaven over every one sinner that repenteth Luke 15. Again it must needs be agreeable to the Natural Law for God for Christs sake to justifie and pardon repentant and reformed sinners because it is agreeable to his own nature For that which is agreeable to the nature of God must needs agree to the Natural Law because the Natural Law is founded in the Nature of God Now for God to shew mercy to his creatures in all compassionable cases is as natural to him as to do justly mercy being as essential to God as justice or any other attribute of his is And there is no opportunity for mercy to shew it self but in compassionable cases And if the case of repenting and reformed sinners for whom Christ died being at first made but fallible be not a compassionable case I know not what is or where any will be found for God to exercise his mercy in Furthermore the Law of Grace does not nor indeed can Cancel or Relax the Natural Law in any part though I confess I with others have some time thought otherwise and the reason is because the Natural Law is naturally what it is and cannot be otherwise That which is in it self fitest to be done can never be otherwise under the same circumstances in which it is so The change or alteration is not in the Law when it favours the same persons at one time whom it disfavoured yea condemned before but the change is made in the persons themselves and in the change of the circumstances of their Case by reason of their interest in Christs performance for them and of their interest in the promise of the Law of Grace they having performed the condition on which their interest in the benefit of Christs death and in the promises of the Gospel were suspended The Law curseth all transgressors of it as such and they remain under it until they are redeemed from it and removed from under it by Christs having born it for them So that the Sanction of the Law is not Cancelled but undergon by our Redeemer for us He hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law by being made a curse for us not by altering the Law for us Gal. 3.13 Our Saviour hath told us that he which believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God because he hath not received the remedy by which he might have been delivered from that condemnation into which he was fallen John 3.18 He was under the condemnation of the Law Natural before as a transgressor of that and is now under the condemnation of the Gospel as a rejecter of the Grace offered by that But when such an one comes to believe he is no longer under the condemnation of either Law or Gospel but both are reconciled to him through Christ because by his believing he is reconciled to them not because they are in the least altered but because the man himself is altered and
the circumstances of his case are altered upon the account of Christs performance for him We cannot say that the Natural Law was ever against the justification and pardoning of such repentant sinners for whom Christ undertook to suffer for if it had it would be so still now he hath suffered for that Law is intirely unalterable and inflexible Till heaven and earth pass one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law saith our Saviour until all be fulfilled Mat. 5.18 Now if the Law were never against the justification and pardon of such penitents as aforesaid then there needed no alteration to be made in it to make way for their justification and pardon And as all this appears as we see from reasons taken from the nature of God and from the nature of the Law it self as reconciled by the death of Christ to penitent sinners So it appears also by express Testimony of Scripture St. Paul speaking of such repentant sinners as in whom were found the fruits of the Spirit saith that against such there is no Law Gal. 5.23 and if no Law then not the Natural Law And when in another place the question is put whether it may be said that the Law is against the promise of God He rejects it with a kind of indignation saying God forbid Gal. 3.21 To conclude then for God to justifie pardon and make men happy when in vouchsafing this favour to repentant persons upon account of the death of his Son his Authority Law and Government is not left unvindicated nor the ends of his Government unsecured nor any creature hurt by it it is doubtless agreeable to the highest reason and therefore congruous to the Law Natural and infinitely becoming so good a being as God is And it may very well be that upon this account God is said to be just in justifying him that believeth in Jesus Rom. 3.26 and faithful and just to forgive us our sins 1 John 1.9 And this doubtless is the satisfaction which God the Father receives by the suffering of his Son for our sins about which there have been so many disputes in the world It is doubtless infinitely satisfactory and well pleasing to Almighty God that by means of his Sons suffering he can now shew Mercy to repentant sinners in justifying pardoning and saving them without suffering the least dishonor or suspition of dishonor in reference either to his Nature Law or Government and in full compliance with the immutable Law of Righteousness and Reason Nor will it follow from what hath been discoursed as some perhaps may object that the Natural Law and the Law of Grace are all one For although the Natural Law is not against the favour exhibited by the Law of Grace upon the reason and the terms on which it is done yet the Revelation of that reason which is the Mediatorial performance of Christ is not made by the Natural Law but by the Gospel or Law of Grace For no man can merely by any natural light know it but is knowable only by the Gospel Revelation or Law of Grace The natural man cannot know the things of the spirit of God because they are spiritually discerned that is by means purely spiritual or supernatural 1 Cor. 2.14 For this reason and by reason of all the honor which redounds to the Eternal Father and to our Lord Jesus Christ and all the benefit which accrues to men by this Revelation which is exceeding great it was necessary that this Law of Grace should be constituted and published as a Law distinct from the Natural Law But whereas the Scripture in some places seems to represent the Law and the Promise as inconsistent so that if one take place upon a person the other must in some sort give way according as I my self have somtimes thought I shall now look a little more narrowly into those Texts In Rom. 4.14 i'ts said If they which are of the Law be heirs faith is made void and the promise made of none effect And again Gal. 3.18 If the inheritance be of the Law it is no more of Promise but God gave it unto Abraham by promise For a right understandnig of these and such like Scriptures we must consider that the Apostle doth not in them represent the inconsistency of the Law and the Promise as they are in themselves and in their proper use and rightly understood but he therein represents the erroneousness of their opinion against whom he disputes upon the account of the absurd consequence of it as rendring the Law and the Promise inconsistent For otherwise when St. Paul speaks his own sense of the Law and Promise he with great vehemency denies the Law to be against the Promises when he says Is the Law then against the Promises God forbid Gal. 3.21 The case was this the Pharisaical Jews held Righteousness or Justification to be by the Law in opposition to its being by Grace I do not frustrate the grace of God saith St. Paul meaning that he did not do it by his doctrine as they did by theirs for if righteousness come by the Law saith he then Christ is dead in vain Gal. 2.21 They held their legal performances were of themselves a Righteousness that would of themselves Justifie them before God But St. Paul taught that it was meerly by grace and by virtue of Christs death that the faith and sincere though otherwise imperfect obedience of such as have been once sinners is imputed or counted to them for Righteousness So that their opinion of Righteousness coming by the Law if admitted would have rendred the death of Christ to be in vain and the Promise of none effect or useless which yet proceeded from Grace and was in it self an act of Gods Grace And if righteousness had been by works in their sense then it would not have been of Grace otherwise Grrace would have no more Grace as St. Paul reasons But if it was of Grace as the Apostle affirmed that it was then it could not be of works in their sence otherwise work would be no more work Rom. 11.6 So that the drift of St. Paul in his writings was to shew that their opinion of Justification by the Law was pernicious for that it opposed the Law to the Promise as rendering the Promise useless But that his doctrine of Justification by Grace through Faith did not evacuate the Law nor make it useless in the matter of our Justification but rendered both very well consistent Do we then make void the Law through Faith saith he God forbid yea we establish the Law Rom. 3.31 The good men among the Jews under the Law were Justified by Grace even then when they were approved of for Righteous upon the account of their sincere obedience to the Law of Moses and accordingly they depended upon the Grace and Mercy of God for acceptation and approbation in their sincere observation of all his Laws And therefore they from time to time stiled
eternal Life but such a practical Faith as I have described consider these following particulars 1. If none can be pardoned but such as repent nor see the Kingdom of God except they be born again as the Scripture assures us they cannot then no Faith can entitle us to Pardon and Salvation as it is a fulfilling the condition of the promises of the Covenant but such as is a penitential regenerating Faith such as works repentance and regeneration in men nor till it hath wrought these effects at least as begun I cannot imagine what can be said with any shew of reason against this argument 2. St. James argues that Faith which hath not works cannot save Ver. 12. and concludes his reasoning Ver. 24. with saying Ye see then how that by Works a man is Justified and not by Faith only 3. Faith and Obedience are so much the same or at least so inseparable when saving as that the same Greek word is indifferently translated to believe or to obey and so on the contrary the same word is translated unbelief or disobedience Instances of this nature you have in Acts 5.36 Rom. 11.30 31. Ephes 5.6 Heb. 4.11 and 11.31 in all which you have the same word translated one way in the line reading and another in the margin And belief and disobedience are likewise opposed to each other as contraries as well as faith and unbelief are and as well as obedience and disobedience are as you may see for instance in Rom. 10.16 1 Pet. 2.7 2 Thes 2.12 By all which we may reasonably judg that when Faith only is mentioned as the condition on which pardon and eternal Life are promised yet then it is to be understood of a practical obediential Faith 4. The same benefits pardon of sin and eternal Life are promised upon the condition of obedience in some Scriptures which are promised on condition of believing in others As for instance If we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin 1 John 1.7 Here assurance is given us of being purged from the guilt of sin by the blood of Christ in case we walk in the light as God is in the light labouring to be holy as God is holy in all manner of conversation And Christ is the Author of eternal Salvation to all them that obey him Heb. 5.9 And blessed are they that do his Commandments that they may have right to the Tree of Life and may enter through the gates into the City Revel 22.14 Not every one that saith Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in Heaven Mat. 7.21 Now if holy obedience be made the condition of the promise of Pardon and Life as well as Faith as we see it is then none but an obediential Faith can be a performance of the condition of that promise By an obediential Faith I mean such a Faith as by which a man is moved and inclined and in some sort enabled to do what is his present duty so far as he understands it to be so And in this sense a mans Faith and his obedience are of the same date and commence together And therefore it is no marvel that the same promise of the same benefits is made to the one which is made to the other and that both are joyned in the condition 5. In Heb. 8.10 11 12. where we have the tenour of the new Covenant declared God promiseth to be a God only to such and to forgive the iniquities only of such as have his Law put into their minds and written in their hearts Where Faith is not at all mentioned as the condition of receiving those benefits but the having the Law written in the heart Though the having the Law written in the heart supposeth Faith I grant as a productive cause of it yet we see it is not the condition of the promised benefits otherwise than as it produceth such an effect which effect is only here mentioned and not Faith which is the cause 6. When saving Faith is described by the nature of its operation upon a man himself and not only as it acteth upon its object without him then we are told it purifieth the heart Act. 15.9 worketh by love Gal. 5.6 overcometh the world 1 John 5.4 and sanctifieth the whole man Acts 26.18 And therefore we have no good reason to think Faith is a fulfilling the condition of the promise only as it acteth upon its object by way of credence or assent or affiance either without its transforming operation upon the Soul 3. The next thing to be enquired into is the reason why Faith is made the condition of the promises of the Gospel-Covenant And the reasons hereof seem to be such as these 1. Faith is made the condition of the promise that it might appear to be of grace that such promise is made and made upon such a condition as faith is St. Paul having spoken of the promise being made through the Righteousness of Faith and not through the Righteousness of the Law Rom. 4.13 He gives the reason of it Verse 16. when he says It is therefore of Faith that it might be by grace to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed not to that only which is of the Law but to that also which is of the Faith of Abraham In which words we have a general reason why Faith is made the condition of the Promise and that is that it might be by Grace And another is given in a particular instance viz. that the promise might be sure to all the seed There is a double reason why it must needs be of Grace that the great Promises of the Gospel are made to mens believing the Gospel The one is taken from the nature of the thing that is of Faith it self in reference and relation to its object For he that believes the Gospel believes that the great blessings and benefits promised therein are promised not for any merit of his to whom they are promised but for the sake of another to wit Christ Jesus whom God hath set forth for a propitiation through faith in his blood Rom. 3.25 And he that believes the Gospel according to what it reveals believes also that it was of Grace that he was thus made a propitiation for it was by the Grace of God that he tasted death for every man Heb. 2.9 Not by works of Righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us Tit. 3.5 And whoever believes all this exalts the grace of God in so believing St. Paul who believed and taught this in opposition to the misbelieving Jews who thought to be justified by the works of the Law without the death of the Messias to obtain that and all other benefits said I do not frustrate the grace of God for if righteousness come
by the Law then Christ is dead in vain Gal. 2.21 Thus he by his Faith and Doctrine according to it in believing and teaching Justification by the death of Jesus Christ did not frustrate but exalt the grace of God Faith then in the very nature of it does own the promise of all benefits to be of Grace when made to such as by sin had forfeited all The other reason why it must needs be of Grace that the Promise is made upon condition of Faith is this because our believing that another to wit Christ hath by his own suffering and intercession for us obtained pardon and life upon condition of our being reconciled to God cannot without believing a contradiction be thought to merit these benefits but that the Promise and the benefits promised and their being promised on such a condition as an obediential Faith is must needs be all of Grace and cuts off all occasion of boasting For Christ is made to us of God Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption to the end that he that glorieth may glory in the Lord 1 Cor. 1.30 31. And it is by grace that we are saved through faith and not of works lest any man should boast Ephes 2.8 9. Where is boasting then It is excluded by what Law Of works Nay but by the Law of faith Rom. 3.27 Again the Promise is therefore of Faith that it might be by Grace to the end that the promise might be sure to all the seed as well of the Uncircumcision as of the Circumcision The Promise of Pardon and Life to the Gentiles the greatest sinners upon condition of repentance is secured and made sure to them by their believing because the Promise so believed is founded in the death of Jesus Christ in whom all the promises are Yea and Amen For no man can with the least appearance of reason imagine that the great God would ever expose one so great and so greatly beloved by him as his holy Son is to such sufferings as he underwent to procure Pardon and Life for repentant sinners were he not fully and perfectly resolved to Pardon and save them upon their repentance notwithstanding all their sins they were guilty of before how hainous soever they may have been Upon which account our Saviour thus given by the Father to such an end is said to be surety of the new Covenant Heb. 7.22 that is he is the great security which the great God hath given to the world of performing whatever he hath promised us upon his Sons account in that Covenant God that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him freely give us all things Rom. 8.31 And now who sees not but that this is an act of exceeding rich Grace in God not only to resolve to bestow upon the children of men such great things as he hath promised but also to give them such a security for it as he hath done by giving his Son to prepare the way for it Now the sense and comfort of all this Grace and so our ascribing the glory of it unto God and our Lord Jesus Christ depends upon our believing these things And therefore God hath entailed the Promise of benefits upon that Faith as a condition without which we can have no sense of all that grace of God exprest in the Promise And therefore well might the Apostle say It is therefore of Faith that it might be by Grace Besides the Promise appears to be of grace in reference to the condition on which it is made whether we consider the vast disproportion between the things promised and the condition on which they are promised or the easiness of the condition it self Considering what by sin we have deserved it would have been matter of Grace in God and great Grace too if he had promised us no more but a deliverance from the wrath to come and that upon any possible condition though otherwise never so rigorous or hard to have been performed as suppose it had been the greatest severity the nature of man could undergo to be exercised by us on our own bodies If this had been the case yet herein there would have been as much grace and favour shewed us as such temporary severities would come short of eternal torments in Hell And if this would have been matter of grace as most certain it would how much more doth it appear to be so when God hath promised not only exemption from the vengeance of eternal fire but also to exalt our nature and to prefer us to an immortal happiness and glory far greater probably than the happiness of an earthly Paradise would have been in case we had never sinned at all and yet all this too upon so easie a condition as Faith is For easie it is in the attaining to it if we consider what provision God hath made and what assistances he is ready to afford to enable us to believe And it 's easie in its exercise and work if we consider what we are to do by vertue of it which besides affiance in God and our Saviour is but to abstain from that we had better be without than have though we should not be concerned in a future state in another world and to do no more but what tends to the perfecting of our nature and the comfort of our lives besides the future glory except in the case of persecution for Righteousness sake In such respects as these I have mentioned it plainly appears that Gods making of Faith to be the condition upon which his great benefits are promised us tends greatly to manifest the grace of God and our Lord Jesus Christ and to fill us with a sense of it for which cause we see he hath chosen it to that office of being the condition of pardon of sin and eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And one reason why God would have his own grace so manifest in all these his proceedings and dealings with us and why he would have us possessed with so great a sense of it is I conceive because he knows this is the direct way of reconciling us to himself of making us to have good and honourable thoughts of him such as incline and dispose us to be reconciled to him And this brings me to another reason why Faith is made the condition of the great and precious promises aforesaid which is this 2. Such a Faith as I have described does best accommodate Gods design of Grace towards us in reconciling us to himself by Jesus Christ in order to our happiness which may be another reason why Faith is made the condition of the promised benefits There is a certain aptitude in Faith to reconcile us to God and to produce that in us which is the matter of our Justification as well as of our reconciliation to God And the reason hereof is because the motives by which men come to be persuaded to be reconciled to God
prove Justification by Faith to be of Grace and not of debt as I have shewed from Rom. 4. but never throughout the whole Scripture stiled Righteousness that ever I could find And if any think it is implyed in such Scriptures where the reward of Righteousness is stiled Righteousness by a Figure yet if it should be so it would no more prove Remission of sin to be Justification than it will prove Glorification to be Justification which yet in St. Pauls account is quite different from it For he says Whom he justified them he also glorified Rom. 8.30 And now for these reasons I hope it will not be thought unnecessary nor unprofitable to have endeavoured to shew that there is a difference between Justification and Remission of sin however what hath been done herein is submitted to the consideration and judgment of the judicious Reader But there is another opinion which I but now mentioned of worse consequence as I apprehend it of which I have said but little And that is the opinion of those who place our Justification in the imputation of the Righteousness of Christ to us not only in its effects as we all hold but in it self as if it were so transferred to us that we were Righteous with the very same personal and numerical Righteousness wherewith he himself is Righteous and that it is so reckoned ours as if we had wrought it in our own persons yea that indeed we have wrought it in and by him The nakedness of which opinion hath been plentifully exposed by others and I shall not concern my self with it now further than what I have already done in these papers Wherein I have shewed that the Righteousness of Christ operates to our Justification in quite another way And likewise that it is the Christian Faith as operative and practical that is imputed to us for Righteousness and that by virtue of Christs Righteousness and Gods act of Grace upon the account of it But then this which yet is the plain doctrine of the Holy Scripture is quite another thing than the transferring of Christs Righteousness it self to us Indeed this opinion excludes and shoulders out the Christian Evangelical Righteousness from the office and use to which God hath designed it and is attended with several dangerous consequences and absurdities otherwise as hath been set forth at large in several Books which treat of this subject which I shall forbear to repeat For my design in these papers was not to treat of Justification in a way of controversie nor so much to detect what is to be avoided as what is to be imbraced and held fast in this matter For I reckon that if that which is the truth be received into the mind upon satisfactory grounds that which is its contrary will fall off of it self The Conclusion WE have now seen how much hath been done by the Eternal Father and his Holy Son our Blessed Saviour that we might be Justified Pardoned and Glorified all things on their part are prepared and made ready The Father hath made and the Son hath fulfilled the Law of Mediation to bring about a Reconciliation between an offended God and us Rebel-Creatures Christ hath now no more sorrows nor pains nor deaths to undergo and suffer for us There are no terms of Grace and Mercy of Pardon and Peace of deliverance from Hell and of obtaining the Glory of Heaven which are not already obtained for us and by the Gospel plainly made known and freely offered to us For it is as I have shew'd of Grace in God and obtained by the Mediatorial Righteousness of Christ that Faith or the Righteousness by Faith is made the condition of Pardon of sin and eternal Life as well as the conferring of Pardon and Life is on that condition Since then such terms of happiness are obtained for us it remains on our part that we receive not this Grace of God in vain but that we be as careful to observe those terms as we are desirous to enjoy the benefits annexed to them because we cannot enjoy the one without observing the other We cannot enjoy the benefits of the new Covenant but by becoming new creatures and by living new lives For this is the new Righteousness by Faith on condition of which the great promises of the new Covenant are made Whoever will come to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb must come in his Wedding garment or else he will be excluded And the Wedding garment in which the Bride the Lambs Wife is said to be arayed is said to be the Righteousness of Saints Revel 19.8 And now Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us we must keep the Feast on this Sacrifice not with the old leaven of malice and wickedness but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth which is the Evangelical Righteousness I have been speaking so much of 1 Cor. 5.7 8. Old things are past away now and behold all things are become new Our old Righteousness in which man was first made is lost and a new Righteousness instituted In the room of the old terms of happiness perfect innocency now the new ones of Faith and godly Sincerity are introduced This new and living way into Heaven is now consecrated for us through the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ Nothing but a new man a new heart a new spirit and newness of life will correspond or suit with the new Covenant nor with the new Jerusalem which is above These are all of one piece there is no parting of them nor having an interest in the one without having the other And now considering that all this happiness of Pardon of sin and the Glory to come and the terms of obtaining both is brought about only by the Grace of our God and the Mediatorial Righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ what can we do less than to joyn with those Redeemed of the Lord mentioned in Rev. 5. who are said to have sung a new song to the everlasting honor of our Redeemer saying Thou art worthy to take the Book and to open the Seals thereof for thou wast slain and hast Redeemed us to God by thy bloud out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation and hast made us unto our God kings and priests How much more cause have we to sound forth the praises of the Redeemer of the World than those Myriads of Holy Angels which have no such need of a Saviour as we have Who yet out of a grateful sense of it celebrate the memory of his most wonderful and worthy undertaking and performance for the Redemption of us poor miserable and lost men Saying with a loud voice worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing And well may we with those blessed spirits sing aloud of the riches wisdom and strength of the Lamb that was slain as most worthy to receive these because he useth them to so