cleared Nevertheless you must not so understand this as if these two parts of this Suretiship-righteousness of Christ were brought in at several times and did not co-exist together For they did concur and meet in many if not in all the passages of his Life in the Flesh during the whole course thereof For though his Incarnation be not any part of this his Suretiship-righteousness as you heard yet the form of a Servant or that abased Condition wherein he was from the first moment of his Conception and wherein he acted all along his Life is a part of his Humiliation And on the other hand there was Active Obedience in his Death and Sufferings because his own Will was in it For he offered up himself and he laid down his own Life and this in obedience to the command which he had received from his Father Joh. 10.17 18. Joh. 14.31 Eph. 5.2 Heb. 9.14 Gal. 1.4 Thus I have gone through the first thing proposed to be spoken to namely what this righteousness of God is which is through Faith upon all that believe and you have seen that 1. It is the righteousness of Christ 2. It is his Mediatorial righteousness 3. It is the righteousness which is brought in by him as a Priest 4. It is hi◠Suretiship-righteousness 5. This Suretiship righteousness of Christ is his perfect answering in behalf of the Elect as our Surety all the demands of the justice of God by vertue of the Moral Law that they might in a way of justice as well as grace be brought unto that happiness whereto they are appointed and it contains both his bearing the Penalty and his fulfilling the Precept of the Law Let us now proceed to the remaining Enquiries wherein I shall be briefer Quest 2. How is this Righteousness unto and upon those that believe Answ As to these words unto and upon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is somewhat a divers account given of them Some conceive they are here used by the Apostle in a different sense as if the first referred to the designment the second to the actual Donation of this Righteousness or as if the one were used and meant of the tender and promise the other of the actual giving and transferring of this Righteousness to and on Believers Others conceive the sense and intendment of them both is much what one and the same in this Text. as it is of by and through v. 30 and consequently that the Apostle here useth both these words that he may more fully and emphatically express our Interest in and Benefit by this Righteousness of Christ And I confess I doe rather incline to this latter account of these two Prepositions the reasons whereof I need not now to insist on but shall hasten to declare how this Righteousness is unto and upon Believers and I shall express it in four words only noting first that that being upon us of this Righteousness which the Apostle here speaks of is unto Justification of Life as appears from the whole Context See ver 20. and ver 24. and ver 28. and ver 30. 1. This righteousness it self is upon Believers by the free and gracious gift and imputation of God The Holy Ghost useth both these expressions in this matter You read of the gift of Righteousness Rom. 5.17 and of the imputation of Righteousness Rom. 4.6,11 With respect to us it is wholly free and gracious for those to whom it is given and imputed do no more deserve it than those who never shall be interested in it Though with respect to Christ it is just and equal that it should be imputed to us in as much as he did bring it in for us and that under an Expectation and Assurance built upon God the Fathers Covenant with him that it should be accepted and of avail for us and given and reckoned to us By being imputed I mean that it is looked on by God as belonging to us in order to our being judicially dealt withal according to the merit thereof This is the Notion of Imputation in the general be the thing imputed good or evil be it originally our own or anothers And hence it appears that it is this Righteousness of Christ it self which is imputed and not only the Effects or Benefits of it which are procured by it communicated to us for this is in truth no Imputation It cannot be said in any Congruity or Truth either that Justification and Adoption are imputed to us or that the Intercession of Christ in Heaven is imputed to us Yet the former are communicated to us through the imputation of this Righteousness and of the latter we do receive the benefit None that I know of ever said that the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ are imputed to us yet are we made partakers of the Effects and benefits of them To deny that Christ's Suretiship-Righteousness it self is imputed to us is to fall in with the Socinians and the very thing which they contend for And indeed the thing is plain that in our being justified either this Righteousness of Christ it self or a Righteousness of our own must be imputed to us For there cannot be Justification without the Imputation of a Righteousness any more than there can be Condemnation without the Imputation of a Crime and besides the Scripture speaks so much of Imputation in the Business of Justification that I know not any who would be called Christians that have denyed all Imputation in that matter And thence it is that those who have either out of Darkness or out of Hatred against standing in the Righteousness of Christ denyed the Imputation of that very Righteousness it self unto us have all of them substituted another Righteousness even a Righteousness of our own for us to stand in before God and be justified in 2. This gratious Imputation is valid and effectual to constitute Believers righteous So the Apostle tells us most expresly Rom. 5.19 As by one mans disobedience many were made Sinners so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous The word which the Apostle there useth and is rendred made signifies constituted and points to Imputation as the way how we are made Righteous And besides he tells us it is in the same manner as we are constituted Sinners by Adams disobedience so in like manner we were made Righteous by Christ's Obedience But the former namely our being made Sinners is by the Imputation to us of Adam's disobedience by it Judgment was or Criminalness came upon all Men to Condemnation as ver 16. and ver 18. and therefore by the free gift and gracious Imputation of this Righteousness of the Second Adam doth Justification even Justification unto life come upon us Such a validity and efficacy there in is Gods Gift and Imputation that by this Righteousness of Christ it being imputed to them Believers have a Title and Right to pardon to the Favour of God to Adoption and to
the transaction between God and Christ concerning us without any thing done on us or in us or by us which cannot be said of the other for in it and indeed in order to the effecting it Christ lays hold on us Moreover the one I mean that which I call Vital Vnion is reciprocal or mutual in it not only we are in Christ but he is also in us Joh. 14.20 and 15.4 and 17.23 Colos 2.7 In this Union there is a mutual in-being between Christ and Believers But that other Union which I called Vnion in Law is not in like manner mutual for though we are said to be in Christ because of that publick capacity and common relation to us all that he stands in yet till the Vital Vnion between Christ and us is effected it cannot be said that he is in us And lastly these two Unions stand affected one to another as cause and effect The former namely that which I call Vnion in Law between Christ and us is the cause of the latter namely of our being brought into that Vital Vnion to him And hence the former is the rule and measure of the latter the latter is extended to all those and to those only who are comprised within the former and it is in the vertue and causal efficacy of the former that the latter is brought about and accomplished 6. Of this latter viz. Vital Vnion between Christ and us Faith is the means on our side Hence appears a further reason why it may well be called a Vital Union Both because in its effecting there is a vital touch as I may say between Christ and us and a clasping each on other and also because by and in this Union unto Christ we are brought immediately into a state of Spiritual Life first relative in Justification and Adoption and then and thereupon qualitative or transformative in Sanctification and Comfort which are Glory begun and shall be perfected hereafter Hence it is that some Divines and those no mean ones for Spiritual Light and Judgment make Faith to be actus medii ut simus in vivis rather than actus vitae quâ in vivis jam constituti vivimu the means and way of our being made Spiritually alive rather than our acting Life as being already brought into a state of Life As the Bodies closing with and clasping hold on the Soul by the animal Spirits which are corporeal things is rather the means of Natural Life than an Act of Life it self And the Notion seems to be countenanced by the Scripture which makes believing one thing and Life another and Faith the means of Life See Joh. 5.40 and 6.53 54 57. and 20.31 and Rom. 1.17 However this is plain and certain that he who hath the Son hath Life and he that hath not the Son hath not Life 1 Joh. 5.12 and that we in our believing do receive Christ Joh. 1.12 Faith being our closing with him in that conjugal Covenant and Relation in which we are and stand vitally united to him 7. It being the proper use of Faith to be the means of Vniting us thus unto Christ and its proper Nature to rest upon Christ for all and to receive all from Christ the Crown of all is hereby set upon the head of Christ and to flourish there for ever And thus you see how the grand original design of God to bring in a Revenue of singular Honour and Praise and Glory unto his Son Christ is in this way brought about accomplished and fulfilled For this Righteousness of Christ being upon us through Faith it glorifies Christ in that he is made all unto us in our acceptance with God as righteous to Eternal Life And indeed Faith is such a Grace as that there is in its Nature a singular aptitude and fitness to give Glory unto Christ This will be made apparent by considering these two things 1. Faith is a going out of our selves unto Christ for all It is a going out of our selves as Indigent miserable and perishing And to whom do we in believing go but unto Christ Faith therefore gives him the Glory of having in him a fulness of suitable sufficiency for Sinners in our guilty ruined Condition And what do we go to him for It is for all that we need Being guilty and under Condemnation we go to him for Righteousness unto Justification of Life and thence Faith is said to be in his Blood Rom. 3.25 Being utterly without strength and dead in sins we go to him for strength Isa 45.24 Being frail and mutable as Creatures and having unsteadfast treacherous hearts as Sinners we go to him for Everlasting Righteousness and for establishment in himself by an unchangeable Ordinance and constant never-failing influences that is in one word for Eternal Life Thus as the Son of God is in himself a Person of infinitely higher Excellency than the first Adam and a better Head unto all his Seed than the first Adam was So Faith acknowledgeth him to be an Head far better than Adam beyond all comparison and gives him the Glory of it accordingly 2. Faith is a prime and principal part of our being conformed to the image of the Son of God Suppose that the principle of Grace begotten and created in us in Regeneration do contain in it the habit of Faith which I will not now call in question nor determine yet this is manifest that in our acting Faith we cannot so well and congruously be said to act like God as to act like Christ For God never acted Faith but Christ did Heb. 2.13 and was so open and frequent in the profession of it that his Adversaries took notice of it Psal 22.7 8. He owned and professed that he lived by the Father as we by Faith do live by him Joh. 6.57 Though he be God by Nature and of himself yet as Mediator he lives by the Father and the Humane Nature of Christ lives and subsis Person leaning on the Eternal Deity of the Son of God it hath its subsistence in the bosom of the God head We in believing do herein imitate Christ after our manner and measure and according to that unmeasurable distance and disproportion that is between him and us We lean and live on Christ and fetch all from him and from God through him But he is the first Pattern and Original Copy of believing both because he lived a Life of Faith and because the Humane Nature of Christ leans on the Godhead in the Son and hath the Eternal Power of the Deity clasping about it and holding it in that Union After somewhat of a similitudinary way though with great dissimilitude and disparity do we by Faith lean and live upon Christ and on God in and through him the Eternal Power of the Godhead in Christ and not so much the strength of any created principle of Grace in us holding our hearts unto him and causing them for ever to liâ—e upon him USE 1. Here we may see the
Love this Grace of Christ should constrain you and make you thus judge That if one dyed for all then those all have dyed namely unto sin and he dyed that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him who dyed for them and rose again for their Justification and that they might rise unto newness of life 2 Cor. 5.14 15. Thus the Apostle Peter also argues pressing it upon Believers to be holy in all manner of conversation even as he who hath called you is holy And the ground upon which he inforceth it is this because they are redeemed with the precious Blood of Christ See 1 Pet. 1.14 15 16 18 19. 2. You should walk humbly also as well as holily This God doth require Mic. 6.8 for you stand accepted not in your selves nor in any Works of Righteousness that you have done but wholly in the Righteousness of Christ that is upon you through Faith Therefore when you have done all and attained to the utmost you should still be humble and say you are unprofitable servants Luke 17.10 For all your obedience and conformity to the Law avails no more to justifie you than your worst sins do and you should look on your best performances and your worst sins even with the same eye in the business of Justification Believers do own that all their best Righteousness is as to their Justification but as filthy rags Isa 64.6 and true Converts have the like and can have no worse thoughts of their worst sins Isa 30.22 Labour you should and abound in the work of the Lord not to work out a Righteousness to stand justified in before God No God forbid such a thought should ever be entertained by any Believer I do not think the Saints in Heaven would be willing to exchange and put off the Robe of Christs Righteousness to stand before God for acceptance in that perfect and spotless Holiness to which they have there attained Much less should any Believer be willing to stand and continue in a justified estate by his own imperfect defective and stained Obedience Neither indeed can I see how such a frame of Heart can be consistent with true Faith But obey you should because you have a Righteousness upon you in comparison and in competition wherewith the Righteousness of Men and Angels is to be despised Obey therefore to the utmost but look away from it when you have so done Obey not to acquire or continue to your selves an interest in this Righteousness much less to be your Righteousness before God but that you may show forth the Praises of him who hath called you into Fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ 3. You should also walk comfortably and rejoysingly as well as holily and humbly For you are made accepted in the beloved Standing in this Righteousness having it upon you through Faith you may you should rejoyse and glory not in your selves on any performances of yours or Graces inhering in you but in the Lord in whom you have both Righteousness and Strength For the Lord hath sworn that in him should all the seed of Israel be justified and glory Isa 45.23 24 25. Having by Faith received the atonement you may glory even in his presence of whom you are in Christ Jesus who is of God made unto you Wisdom Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption and you made the Righteousness of God in him that he that gloryeth should glory in the Lord. POST-SCRIPT THere are two Passages in the foregoing Sermons which have been exclaimed against publickly and privately by one that heard them not And I do believe he was angered by more than two For he is one that makes union to Christ our having this Righteousness upon us and our being justified by it to be given us in way of reward of something done by us and he is the man that makes the state of Believers to be undecided and in suspense during this Life Both which Errors are damning the former in its Nature and direct tendency the latter in its Grounds and Principles And whether he do not in truth disown the imputation of our Sins unto Christ and of his Righteousness unto us it is like if he live the VVorld will see more fully for he hath given such pregnant indications thereof as do amount to at least just cause of jealousie But touching these things he thought it best to keep silence and to fix his nails where he thought he had better advantage The one Point is pag. 7. That the Incarnation of Christ is no part of his Humiliation As to the truth of it as there laid down I shall say little more knowing it cannot be overthrown The whole stress of the matter lyes in those two words Incarnation and Humiliation how they are taken If the former be taken largely as comprising Christs taking both our Nature and the common sinless Frailties of it together with his being in the form of a servant and made under the Law I know not why it should be denyed to be a part of his Humiliation But if it be taken strictly for his dwelling in Flesh or Humane Nature comprehending under it both the act of assumption and the relation or union arising and effected thereby between the Humane Nature so assumed and the Person of the Son of God who did assume it neither the one nor the other of these neither the act of assuming nor the Union of the two Natures effected by it may be allowed to be any part of Christ's Humiliation For Humiliation is not in this argument to be taken laxly and improperly for any thing which hath Goodness or Grace in it as God's beholding things in Heaven and in Earth is said to be an humbling of himself Psal 113.6 So Christ might have been said to humble himself though he had never been Incarnate But in this subject Humiliation ought to be taken precisely for that which is proper and peculiar to the second Person in the Trinity which the Apostle calls his being in the form of a Servant or rather his being made under the Law Between which there may be conceived some difference for Christ is now in his state of Exaltation Gods Servant but he is not now under the Law as he was in the days of his Flesh and Frailty And taking these words thus it is far from being a singular conceit of mine that the Incarnation of Christ is not a part of his humiliation Mr. Bradshaw not only saith expresly Christ's assuming the Humane Nature cannot properly be said to be a part of his Humiliation but gives his reason for it of Justif ch 17. Sect. 7. and makes the Title of that Chapter to be this Christ that he might taken on him the guilt of sin was made man Whence it is evident that in his Judgment which is also the current Judgment of all Christians Christ's becoming Man was not the effect of the guilt of sin being on him but the way of his
taken notice of It is an easie thing to quote many that tax it as madness and blasphemy to say Believers are equal with Christ but they must be understood in a limited sense and as meaning such an equality as interferes with Christ's Headship and with his having the pre-eminence in all things For taken absolutely and in all respects it will not hold Believers are Men equally with Christ and they are justified from their sin equally with Christ for they are perfectly justified and perfectly freed from the revenging Wrath of God in this Life and from Condemnation Mr. Bradshaw though he be not for such an imputation of Christ's Righteousness as others are who are not Antinomians as Dr. Owen Dr. Jacomb Mr. Ant. Burgess yet saith God doth not only forgive to Persons justified all their sins but doth also even in like manner esteem them themselves and accounts them in the same place as if they were altogether free from all manner of sin both of commission and omission Perinde aestimat eâ—demque loco habet What would this dissatisfied Person have said if I had affirmed that we have a whole and unmaimed righteousness against which God in his most exact justice cannot proceed no more than he can call his own Son to a second Death or not accept his face who is the righteousness of God himself Or if I had said that Mary under the Cross was more just imputatively than Christ which was also true of every Believer then living when Christ was under the actual imputation of Sin And that God looking on Believers through Christ seeth no more sin safely understood than he seeth in him The former are the words of Reverend Mr. Cartwright against the Rhemists on Rom. 2.13 and the latter of Mr. Norton Orth. Evang. ch 14. pag. 324. I might multiply quotations to the same purpose But to what end I fear it is a dislike and heart-hatred of standing justified in the Righteousness of Christ imputed and in it only that lyes at the bottom in these oppositions For the thing is evident in it self and I can hardly think any man is so forsaken of common understanding as to deny it that if it be the same righteousness in which Christ and we stand he and we are so far as that righteousness makes righteous equally righteous If it be the same righteousness that is upon him and upon us it must needs have the same effect as to making righteous Let it be but owned and believed that it is Christ's Righteousness and not our own either Faith or other Graces or Obedience that we stand justified in before God and what I have delivered must be owned and is so whether Men see it or not But if Christ's Righteousness be not upon us if that be not the only righteousness in which we stand justified it is then absurd and monstrous and blasphemous or whatever men that like not standing in the Righteousness of Christ please to call it to say that imputatively we are as righteous as Christ is righteous as our Surety It may be that some or other who do believe these things to be blessed and glorious Truths may think it had been better not to have spoken them out I must crave leave in this to dissent from them I do not think that in such a Subject we should at such a time be mealy-mouthed Had Luther Zuinglius Calvin Zanchy and others of the first Reformers been as faint and complying in their expressions as some very great and good men then were and as Peter Martyr himself for some time was the precious truths of God had been greatly obscured and the Light thereof not propagated down to us as it is at this day FINIS
Eternal Life On account of this Righteousness being thus made theirs it is as I conceive that they are said to be Worthy Rev. 3.4 to walk with Christ in white worthy of Joyful Communion with Christ not in themselves but as in him and having his Righteousness upon them in whom they are made the Righteousness of God 3. This Righteousness is upon Believers not only for the change of their Estate at first from a State of Wrath and Condemnation to a State of Favour with God and Justification but also for the continuing of them in that Estate for ever This is that which the Apostle saith Rom. 5.21 Grace reigneth through Righteousness unto Eternal Life So that Believers stand before God in this Righteousness having it upon them all their Life as well as at their first believing and being translated into a justified Estate It is in this Righteousness in which they stand justified and not in their own Graces of Sanctification or in any of their own new obedience Thus the Holy Ghost teacheth us to judge and believe when he saith 1 Joh. 2.12 If any man sin that is if any Believer sin for of them he speaks we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is no only was or hath been but he is a propitiation for our sins And 1 Job 1.7 If we walk in the light as God is in the light the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all Sin Our walking in the Light hath no influence at all to cleanse us from the filth contracted by the least Sin that is found with us This I take to be one reason why it is called Everlasting Righteousness Dan. 9.24 The Righteousness of the first Adam in which he was created was not so no he sinn'd and forfeited and lost it it lasted no longer than while he continued in all things contained in the Law to do them But it is not so with the Righteousness which the Messiah brings in if it be once upon us through Faith it is upon us everlastingly Thence Believers are said to be b fore the Throne of God without fault Rev. 14.5 which is much too high an expression to be used of the best Saint under Heaven on the account of his Obedient and Holy Walking nothing but the Righteousness of Christ being upon them can set them before the Throne of God without fault Of this mind was the Holy Apostle Paul when with so much vehemency and patheticalness he renounceth his own Righteousness and shuns standing in it for Justification unto Life Phil. 3.9 as dross that was of no wortlh as loss that would undoe him yea as dung which would defile him and render him abhorred This he speaks of his own Righteousness and thus his heart stood affected towards it in the business of his Justification even then when he had been converted and sanctified many years and done and suffered much for Christ in an excellent manner and with a choice and Evangelical Spirit Bellarmin indeed would have Paul there by his own Righteousness to mean nothing but his own Hypocrisie or formality and is so very angry with Chemnitius for interpreting Paul's own Righteousness there and the all things which he renounceth as comprizing them under his Grace of Sanctification and his new Obedience that he chargeth him for it with blasphemy And indeed 't is no wonder if depreciating and crying down a Man 's own Righteousness be resented as Blasphemy by a proud Cardinal an haughty Jesuit and blind Papist But the Light and Pregnancy of the Apostles Expressions are so strong and clear that it is somewhat surprizing that any pretending to be a Protestant (a) Such as Dr. Sherl See Antisoz p. 547 to 568 and Mr. Williams See Pref. p. 9. and p. 202 203 204 209. Grotius indeed goes the same way Annot. in loc And I learn by Mr. Rutherf of the Cov. p. 171. that Arminians and Socinians do so too But I do not reckon him or them among Protestants It is like Grotius and the Arminians might have it from the Racovian Catechisme cap. 9. p. 194. should lick up that Popish Self-justiciaries vomit But vain Man would be wise though he be born like the wild Asses Colt There is in us an obstinate adherency to our own Righteousness and a desperate lothness to foregoe it and be beaten off utterly from it And thence if we see we cannot have any thing of our own before Conversion to bring us into a justified State yet we struggle as for Life that somewhat of our own something done by us or inhering in us may some way or other be our Justifying Righteousness or a part of it may have some band in continuing us in that Estate though it could do nothing to bring us into it But doubtless Holy David's heart was under the conduct of the Blessed Spirit of Wisdom and Grace when he resolved to make mention of the Righteousness of God and of it only for his acceptance as well as to walk in the strength of the Lord God for his Assistance Psal 71.16 And this was not at first Conversion only that he might be put into a State of Justification but it was when he was old and gray-headed and had been sanctified and done much for God and been in a justified Estate many Years See ver 9. 4. This free effectual valid abiding imputation of this righteousness unto Believers is such and it is through Faith so upon them that they are thereby constituted as righteous as Christ is righteous as their Surety When I say they are by its being upon them made as Righteous as Christ is Righteous as he is their Surety I mean it not in a way of Similitude only but in a way of Equality I am well aware that this is looked on as a monstrous absurdity and horrid impossibility by Papists and others who contend against the Imputation of the Righteousness of Christ unto us at all And no wonder for Christ and his Righteousness are a stumbling stone and rock of offence to many in Israel it was so of old Rom. 9.32 33. and it will be to as long as that word 1 Pet. 2.8 stands firm that there are any in the World who are appointed to stumble at that stumbling stone But we must not foregoe a truth so certain so clear so comfortable though all the Unbelievers in the World stumble and quarrel at it That I may if possible prevent the offence I desire you would observe that I do not make comparison between the Righteousness of Christ and the Righteousness of Believers by their being sanctified and their Holy walking In this regard there is only a similitude to dream of an Equality would be prodigious Ignorance and blasphemous Madness Nor is the comparison between the Righteousness of Believers by Imputation and their Righteousness in point of Sanctification These are not the things compared together To make these equal would be foolish in
lost and perishing and forlorne Condition And verily this is an heavy and an overwhelming guilt superadded unto all the rest You should take in Convictions of your condemned Condition and that the Wrath of God abideth on you and will do so as long as you continue in unbelief Do not flatter your selves and delude your own Consciences by saying I have mourned and I have wept bitterly for my sins and over my poor Soul and I have left them and amended and reformed my Life and I thank God I walk so and so blamelesly and exemplarily Be it so yet let me put these two Demands to thy Conscience 1. Are these things the Righteousness of Christ And 2. Are they Faith If they be not the Righteousness of Christ they can never justifie thee from any the least sin And if they be not Faith the Righteousness of Christ will never be upon thee by or thorow them The Scripture no where saith that the Righteousness of Christ is upon us through our repenting not yet through our amending and reforming no nor through any works of Righteousness and Obedience that we have done or can do No this is the Priviledge Prerogative and peculiar Office of Faith True it is these things are thy bounden Duties God will damn thee for neglecting them But yet as true and as certain it is that they neither are the Righteousness of Christ nor will they intitle thee to it and interest thee in it Know therefore that though thou couldst mourn Rivers of Tears or Seas of Bloody though thou couldst amend thy Life and reform thy way and thy heart too so as never more to sin and though for the time past of thy Life thou hadst and for all the time to come shouldst live like a Saint dropt down from Heaven and walk up and down in the World like an Angel in flesh shine and sparkle and glitter among the Sons of God yet as all this is not the Righteousness of Christ so neither would the Righteousness of Christ be upon thee through all these things for they are not Faith Thou art therefore in a state of Condemnation and the Wrath of God abides upon thee and will do so as long as thou continuest without Faith USE 3. This Doctrine speaks earnest exhortation to get Faith to believe And it speaks to you all one and other for you all stand in need of this Righteousness of Christ to be upon you the very least sinner among you all as well as the greatest As the Apostle Paul sometime said to Peter Gal. 2.15 16. We who are Jews by Nature and not sinners of the Gentiles knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but by the Faith of Jesus Christ even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law for by the wâ—rks of the law shall no flesh be justified So I say to you that are not such grievous and atrocious sinners as some others are you as well as the greatest Sinners must believe in Jesus Christ that you may be justified And much more you whose own Consciences neither do nor can make any other judgment of you but that you are among the very chief of Sinners Sinners before the Lord exceedingly O do you get Faith See that you believe For in this way it will come to pass that the Righteousness of Christ shall be upon you and in no way by no means unless you believe You may try other courses you may gad about to change your way from foul to clean from careless and loose and prophane to strict and serious and circumspect but though you wash you with Nitre and take you much Soap yet your Iniquities will stand marked before the Lord your guilt the guilt of all your sins wilt still be upon you You may take up the practise of Duties and abound therein you may attain much light in Spiritual things and become Eminent in Gifts You may walk blamelesly in the Eye of the World you may live in the fellowship of Saints and in the observance of the Ordinances of God in the purest way of their Administration upon earth and yet be without this Righteousness of Christ upon you For these are not Faith It is therefore a preposterous course to begin with taking up of Duties without looking after Faith nay it is an errour in the Foundation and a building on the Sand All your building of Duties and Profession and Hopes will fall down and the fall thereof will be great and fearful Yet I fear it is the oversight and errour of many Professors among us at this day but it is a fatal and Soul-ruining one My advice and Exhortation to you therefore is that whatever you do in the concernments of your Souls look to it that you believe Whatever you neglect neglect not getting Faith Yea look to it in the first place Thus your Teachers should instruct and lead you This is the Apostles direction unto Titus that he should teach them that have believed to be careful to maintain or to excel in good works Tit. 3.8 not to teach and press Sinners in their unbelief to fall to doing good works first and overlook believing wholly or to postpone it after them And thus you should practise else you labour in the fire and weary your selves in very vanity for all your pain and toil and doing will not bring it about that the Righteousness of Christ shall be upon you for they are not Faith But through Faith that Righteousness will be upon you and being upon you it will produce good works and both your Works and your Persons be accepted your Persons first and then your Works And if you believe this Righteousness shall certainly be upon you and you shall be accepted and made Righteous in it how many or how heinous soever your sins have been or how great soever and amazing to your Consciences your guilt be For it is through Faith and net through works of Obedience that it is unto all and upon all without difference who do believe Therefore look to it that you do indeed believe look to it that your Faith be the Faith of God's Elect. Vse 4. This Doctrine speaks to Believers and to you it shows how you should live and walk before God so as to please injoy and glorifie him I will instance in three things 1. You should walk holily in all new Obedience If you be redeemed and delivered from Condemnation and Death as verily you are if this Righteousness be upon you it is that you might serve the Lord without fear slavish legal fear in holiness and righteousness in all the Duties required both in the First and Second Table of the Law and that before him in sincerity and uprightness of Heart as in his sight and all this not in a fit only or for a while but all the days of your lives Luke 1.74 75. This